Andhra Pradesh: Plaster falls off ceiling in class, three students hurt

Two officials suspended, showcase notices issued to another two; Incident happened at recently-renovated school raises eyebrows

The DEO said that the school parent committee filed a complaint with the local police station immediately after the incident on Tuesday evening.

KURNOOL: Three students of Burandoddi Mandal Parishad Primary School in C Belagal mandal in Kurnool district suffered injuries after a portion of ceiling plastering of a classroom fell on them on Tuesday.

Interestingly, the school was renovated recently under the Mana Badi Nadu-Nedu scheme. One of the students, Mahendra, got severe head injuries and at least five stitches were done on his head by local doctors.  Other students, including Nandakishor Reddy and Jagadish Naidu, sustained minor injuries.

After the shocking incident, the district administration suspended two officials and issued showcase notices on another two officials. On Wednesday, District Educational Officer (DEO) M Sai Ram, Samagra Siksha additional project coordinator K Venu Gopal and executive engineer of educational department Karenna visited the school.

The DEO said that the school parent committee filed a complaint with the local police station immediately after the incident on Tuesday evening. He, however, said that two officials including Assistant Engineer Ravi Kumar and cluster resource person Sreenivasulu were suspended for their negligence to maintain quality of works under Manabadi Nadu-Nedu at the school. Two other educational department officials, including mandal educational officer Jyothi and school head master Krupanandam, were issued showcase notices.

Patches of the ceiling fell at Burandoddi MPP school on Tuesday. (Right) DEO
M Sai Ram speaking to a victim student at the school on Wednesday  | Express

The DEO said he sent a special circular to all schools, including renovated and old ones, asking detailed reports about the condition of the school buildings.

In all, 1,080 of the total 2,900 government schools in the district have been renovated under the first phase of Nadu-Nedu, a flagship programme of the YSRC government.

Panel returned Rs 2 lakh  

The school building was allocated Rs 26 lakh funds for taking up eight works. The development committee took up the works with Rs 24 lakhs and returned the remaining Rs 2 lakh funds to the administration, sources said. The building was constructed just over five years ago, sources said.

Action against officials  

Two officials including Assistant Engineer Ravi Kumar and cluster resource person Sreenivasulu were suspended. Two other educational department officials, including mandal educational officer Jyothi and school head master Krupanandam, were issued showcase notices