ROURKELA: The state government on Tuesday suspended the headmistress of a school run by the ST and SC Development department and a welfare extension officer (WEO) following the death of a tribal student after hot dal spilled on him in the hostel kitchen.
ST and SC Development department secretary Roopa Roshan Sahu suspended headmistress of Dengula Sevashram school Carmela Bilung and Koida WEO Bikash Ranjan Naik for dereliction of duty.
They have been asked to report at the office of the Bonai sub-collector during the period of suspension and not to leave the headquarters without prior permission of the sub-collector.
The secretary has also issued a strongly worded show cause notice to Sundargarh district welfare officer (DWO) Pabitra Mohan Pradhan asking him to submit his reply within three days.
Attributing the death of the tribal student to the negligence of the headmistress, WEO and cooks-cum-attendants, she said that this speaks volumes about the laxity in supervision and monitoring of hostels and mess management on part of the DWO for which the sub-ordinate staff failed to perform their duties diligently in smooth management of the school.
The victim Gellet Niranjan Hanhag, a Class VIII student, had received burn injuries on his left thigh and leg after hot dal spilled on him while he was assisting cook Dhirendra Rout in shifting a large cooking vessel from the hostel's kitchen on March 6. He succumbed to the injuries during treatment at Rourkela Government Hospital on March 12.
An internal investigation revealed since the boy had a strong physique, he was frequently asked for similar jobs.
On Monday, Sundargarh collector Dr Parag Harshad Gavali disengaged three cooks-cum-attendants - Dhirendra Rout, Tarini Nayak and Kartik Naik of the school in this connection.