BHOPAL: Alleging unimaginably harsh punishment since the last few days, particularly for coming late to school, the students of Sarojini Naidu Government Girls Higher Secondary (Nutan) School in Bhopal staged a massive protest in the school campus for over two hours on Wednesday.
The protest which was particularly targeted against Varsha Jha (an ex-army officer, recently appointed as manager in-charge for HR and Estate) suddenly turned violent and the angry girls reportedly broke into Jha’s office and ransacked property there.
The agitated students of the school broke the windows, furniture and even damaged the blades of the ceiling fans in the office, targeting their ire particularly against Jha’s alleged harsh punishment of girls coming late to school.
Also, during the protests under extremely humid conditions, many students reportedly turned unconscious, after which they were rushed in ambulances, police vehicles and the vehicle of the local MLA Arif Masood to hospitals and medical facilities for urgent medical attention.
“We’ve nothing against the principal and existing teachers, our protest is against the new Madam who has been posted at the school. She is frequently torturing us, particularly for coming late to school. We are made to stand in the scorching sun for a long time, forced to clean toilets, sweep the school premises and even cut grass as punishment, even for being late by five minutes at the school. Our protest will continue till the time the new Madam isn’t removed from the school,” the girls at the forefront of the protest told journalists, as the protests grew violent.
Videos of the girl students in uniform ransacking the property at Jha’s office went viral all over the social media.
Massive protests were not only reported inside the school, but the girls even came out of the college on the street. Coming to know about the protests turning into a law and order problem, a city police team led by ADCP-Habibganj Mayur Khandelwal rushed to the school premises. Local Congress MLA Arif Masood too rushed to the school and worked with the school management and students on cooling the situation down.
The protests finally came to an end after more than two hours, as the MP State Open School Board Director PR Tiwari and other officials in consultation with the local MLA finally decided to remove the outsourced employee (ex-army officer) Varsha Jha as the HR and Estate in-charge of the school.
“She (Varsha) has been removed from the post and the students will be allowed to enter the school premises late up to half an hour from the school’s morning time of 10.30 am,” the State Open School Board director told this newspaper.
Raising the issue over social media platform X, by posting the videos of the protests and fainting students being rushed to hospitals, the former union minister and ex-state Congress chief Arun Yadav wrote, “Atrocities on girl students, daughters and women continue under BJP rule. Now the matter has come to the Sarojini Naidu Government Higher Secondary School of Bhopal, where the students are made to do the cleaning if they come late. The students are protesting for this demand. Is this the reality of 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao'?”
While the government schools are run by the school education department across the state, the state government has assigned the MP State Open School Board, the responsibility of turning 53 schools across the state (one school in each district) as best-quality schools of excellence.
Under the MoU, the Sarojini Naidu Government Girls Higher Secondary (Nutan School) has been selected in the Bhopal district, where infrastructural and other changes are being introduced.
According to informed sources, a large section of the staff at the school, which is averse to the changes, is seeing these developments as a parallel system being developed in the school. With the excessively strict ex-army officer (appointed as in charge for HR and Estate and discipline-related affairs) emerging the face of these changes, the resistance is particularly targeted against her and the role of section of the school’s staff and some parents is suspected in it.