MADURAI: Members attached to the CPI staged a protest demanding authorities to help a student, who allegedly lost vision after a dust particle fell on his eye when he asked to carry sand bags by a school teacher, in front of the Kallar Reclamation School in Kappalur on Tuesday.
Members raised slogans against the school education department and said teachers working there were allegedly discriminating students based on caste. They allegedly compelled students to clean debris on December 2, after a damaged building was demolished using an earthmover.
While the victim Yuvaraj, a Class 8 student, was cleaning the debris, a small particle got stuck to his eyeball. Instead of taking him to a hospital, the teachers allegedly called his parents and sent him home, protestors said.
Speaking to TNIE, CPI District deputy secretary G Santhanam said, "His father works as a cleanliness worker in the municipality. As he was from the SC community, the teachers compelled him to do the work."
"Doctors declared that he had lost sight in his left eye, when parents brought him to the hospital. No compensation was provided by the school education department," he pointed out.
He urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to look into the issue and take action against teachers and the school headmaster. He also urged authorities to extend support to the boy to help recover his eye sight.