Aug 25, 2024 11:28 AM IST
The schools have been asked to explain within 24 hours why such activities were organised by the teachers and students, failing which the government would take strict action
Kolkata: The West Bengal government has issued show cause notices to several government-aided schools after allegations surfaced that students and teachers “during school hours” are joining the ongoing protests over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, officials aware of the matter said.
Multiple schools in Howrah, Bankura, East Midnapore, and West Midnapore were issued show cause notices, said officials.
In Howrah, at least three state-aided schools—Baluhati High School, Baluhati Girls’ High School, and Bantra Rajlakshmi Girls School—were served the notices “for involving students in a rally” and asked to give an explanation within 24 hours.
“It has come to our knowledge that a rally has been organised during school hours by the teachers and students of your school on 23.08.2024. Such activities put students under threat as it is not safe, and this is a violation of child rights,” the notice from the state government read.
The schools have been asked to explain within 24 hours why such activities were organised by the teachers and students, failing which the government would take strict action.
Speaking to media persons, a Howrah school teacher said, “The rally was not organised during school hours. Students, teachers, and even former students of the school took out a rally after school hours.”
The rape and murder of the 31-year-old trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata earlier this month has triggered a nation-wide uproar. Protest rallies are taking place all across, organised by citizens, civil society organisations, youth, students, and women’s bodies, and political parties, who have been demanding justice for the victim. On Saturday, rallies were taken out in Kolkata by app-cab drivers, morning walkers, and political parties.
Meanwhile, a meeting between the state health department officials and protesting junior doctors or medical colleges and hospitals that have been holding a cease-work failed to come up with a solution.
“The cease work will continue. There has been no development in the case, and we are yet to get justice. We still don’t know how many people were involved in the crime and what the motive was. How can we join work without knowing that we can work safely?” Aniket Mahata, a protesting doctor of RG Kar Hospital, said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the case, on Saturday began the polygraph tests on former RG Kar Medical and Hospital principal Sandip Ghosh and five others.
The polygraph test of Sanjoy Roy, the prime accused in the rape and murder of a trainee doctor, is likely to be held on Sunday, CBI officials said.
Roy, a civic volunteer with the Kolkata police, was arrested as the prime suspect in the rape and murder of the trainee doctor, a day after the alleged incident on August 10 by the police. He was later handed over to the CBI.
