BENGALURU: Students of Jnana Jyothi High School in Yelladakere, Hiriyur taluk, are reportedly made to carry 10-12 20-litre capacity water cans for 1/2 km each day from the gram panchayat premises to their school to cook midday meals and for drinking purposes.
“Boys studying in Class 9 and 10 are told to fetch water from the purification unit located on the premises of Yelladakere GP office,” a student told TNIE.
The school is situated on the Bidar-Srirangapatna NH 150-A. According to the residents, the stretch is accident-prone and thousands of heavy lorries pass through it each day. Obanna, a resident said, “It is a regular scene here. When we complained to the school authorities, they said that it is their (student’s) duty to get water for mid-day meal. They said that without helpers, it is not possible to do this.”
Krishnappa, in-charge headmaster of the school, said, “We have an attender ... he is not performing his duty. As we have to cook midday meals and provide drinking water, it is inevitable to take the help of students.”
“It is the school’s duty to arrange for water. If the school is aided by the government, we will initiate disciplinary action against them,” Zilla Panchayat CEO C Satyabhama told TNIE.
DDPI K Ravishankar Reddy said, “Students are supposed to concentrate on academics and not do such works. The issue will be taken up seriously. These type of inhumane acts will not be tolerated anymore.”