Badlapur sexual assault: 18-member committee to look into school safety norms

Maharashtra appoints an 18-member committee to enhance school safety norms and enforce existing laws after the Badlapur school sexual assault case

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Friday appointed an 18-member committee headed by retired justices Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi and Sadhana Jadhav to recommend safety norms for students in schools and steps for effectively implementing existing laws including the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

Thane, India - August 27, 2024: Govinda is seen holding a placard calling for death sentence for the accused in the Badlapur girls sexual assault case at the Dahi Handi festival in Thane at Sanskruti yuva Pratishan Dahihandi vartak nager in Thane. ( Praful Gangurde /HT Photo )

The committee was set up on the orders of the Bombay high court in the wake of the Badlapur school sexual assault case last month. Apart from the two retired justices, the committee will include retired IPS officer Meeran Borwankar, the women and child welfare commissioner, the school education commissioner, two principals, members of NGOs, a psychiatrist, and representatives of parents.

Meanwhile, another state government-appointed committee under two senior IAS officers tasked with suggesting safety and security measures for school children following the Badlapur incident submitted its report to Maharashtra education minister Deepak Kesarkar earlier this week. The committee, formed last month, has recommended stricter implementation of the existing guidelines and rules framed by the state government and steps to plug the gaps in their enforcement at schools.

The education department will send the first committee’s report to the new committee headed by the two former high court judges. “After we announced the committee [last month], the high court in the first week of September ordered a committee under Sadhana Jadhav and Shalini Phansalkar Joshi, two retired justices, for the comprehensive recommendations on the implementation of the Pocso Act,” said an official from the state education department.

“The committee will have other stakeholders as its members and is expected to give its report in one month. Instead of going ahead with the recommendations of the report submitted by the government committee, we have decided to hand it over to the high court-appointed committee. The government will act upon the comprehensive report submitted by the committee under judges,” the official added.

Soon after the Badlapur incident, the state government on August 23 constituted a committee under the women and child welfare commissioner to finalise guidelines to ensure the safety of students on school premises. The committee comprised the school education commissioner, school education director, officials from the women and child welfare department, members of NGO and representatives of the parents. The committee has reportedly found flaws in the enforcement of the existing guidelines and has expressed the need for safety measures in schools and also while students are travelling to and from school.

“The committee thinks that existing guidelines issued in June 2018 and the handbook issued in 2020 by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) are comprehensive, but their enforcement by the school management fails to ensure the safety of the children,” said an official from the state school education department. “Verification of the credentials of the employees and teachers, adequate use of the CCTV network, counselling of the children and periodic review of the enforcement is expected to be done by the school management. The committee found the management at fault in the Badlapur case and has pointed at the need for a vigil eye at the school level.”

The 2018 guidelines clearly speak about the sensitisation of the Pocso Act provisions and ask for setting up a mechanism to deal with such complaints, the official said. “The guidelines mandate an app for complaints about inappropriate behaviour with children. They speak about the appointment of teaching and non-teaching staff, including their police verification, deputing women security personnel at washrooms, etc. Despite these guidelines, the Badlapur school management did not take adequate steps after the incident had come to light. The committee has pressed upon the stricter enforcement,” the official added.