The Supreme Court on Tuesday castigated the Delhi government for the lack of basic amenities like filtered water, toilets and fans and light in various government-run schools in the capital and ordered it to provide these within three months.
Expressing annoyance over the abysmal lack of basic amenities in schools and the authorities' apathy towards it, a bench of Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice Dalveer Bhandari also asked the state government's education secretary to be present in the court July 29, the next date of hearing.
The order came during the hearing of a public interest lawsuit which pointed out lack of basic amenities, the requisite number of teachers and proper infrastructure in the schools.
The bench also asked the government to fill the vacancies of teachers and head masters, numbering 2,500, in all the 222 schools by the next date of hearing. The bench also sought a detailed affidavit by the government on the progress made in implementing its order.
The bench asked the government to undertake renovation work in school buildings and construct sufficient classrooms, so that the students do not have to study under the sun.
It ordered installation of various fire safety equipments in the schools.
The court earlier asked the government to file its status report in November 2007 on various steps taken by it to provide the amenities in the government schools.
But the bench on Tuesday expressed its displeasure over the status report filed by the government and termed it as “totally vague and lacking particulars”.
