Collectors told to check tribal welfare schools to ensure students' safety

CHENNAI: The director of tribal welfare department has asked district collectors to give “personal attention” to government tribal residential (GTR) schools and hostels in their districts to improve the quality of education and food provided to the students and to create a fearless atmosphere for the students.

The department has taken the measures following a report in TOI on October 3 – ‘Tribal students at the mercy of cooks, who double up as wardens’ — throwing light on the plight of students, who were subjected to sexual abuse and harassment at the hands of cooks and watchmen in the absence of wardens.

“The office is receiving petitions and phone calls regarding sexual abuse of students of GTR schools and tribal hostels. There have been some newspaper reports also on this recently,” the director of tribal welfare Ritto Cyriac said in the letter. He has requested the collectors to instruct district-level officers to conduct regular inspections at the schools and hostels.

The director has requested the authorities to take stern action against staff misbehaving with students, said an official citing the communication to the collectors of 17 districts that have 315 GTR schools with more than 27,000 students. Letters have been shot off to collectors of Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Trichy, Tiruvannamalai , Dindigul, Dharmapuri, Vellore and Villupuram districts.

“Suspension/ transfer will be the least punishment” for those who misbehave with students and torture them, he said and added that the culprits should be booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

The collectors have also been requested to check the quality of food served to the students. The government has been sanctioning Rs 900 for food and Rs 50 for maintenance expenses per student every month. “Periodical checks will ensure that quality food is given to students,” said another official.