In the wake of recent incidents of sexual assault of children in some schools, including in Badlapur in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on September 24 a plea by an NGO ‘Bachpan Bachao Andolan’ seeking the implementation of the Centre’s guidelines on safety and security of children in educational institutions across the country.

A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice NK Singh directed the listing of the matter on September 24 after senior advocate HS Phoolka, appearing for the NGO ‘Bachpan Bachao Andolan’, told the bench that only five states have implemented the Centre’s guidelines for the safety of children in educational institutions and sought an early hearing of the matter.

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The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), in consultation with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), had framed  guidelines on ‘Fixing the Accountability of School Management towards the Safety and Security of Children in Schools’ on August 20, 2018.”

The matter regarding enforcement of the Centre’s guidelines has been pending since May 6, 2019, when the top court issued notices to the concerned parties.

The NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan, in its plea, has said that the safety of the children is being compromised and they are being subjected to “sexual abuse and assault” due to the failure of state/Union Territory governments to notify the guidelines framed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) in consultation with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

“These guidelines have been developed to fix the accountability of school management in the matter of safety and security of children studying in government, government-aided, and private schools,” the NGO has said.

The plea further stated that the recent tragic incident in Badlapur in Maharashtra, where two schoolgirls were allegedly raped by a staff member, is an eye-opener that demonstrates that the school management has miserably failed to protect and secure the lives of children.

Had these guidelines been notified by the state/UT governments, various untoward incidents could have been averted, states the plea by the NGO.

The petition by the NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan has sought direction to the states/Union Territories to notify and implement the ‘Fixing the Accountability of School Management towards the Safety and Security of Children in Schools’ guidelines, dated August 20, 2018, prepared by the HRD in consultation with the NCPCR.

During the pendency of the present writ petition, on October 1, 2021, the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education developed, framed, and rolled out the ‘Guidelines on School Safety and Security 2021’ in compliance with the directions passed by the top court. These guidelines specifically state that the state/UT governments shall notify these guidelines, the NGO said.

Thereafter, the petitioner NGO filed an application for amendment of the writ petition on December 20, 2022, inter-alla seeking directions to all the states/UT governments to immediately and mandatorily notify the guidelines.

“It is respectfully submitted that numerous recent incidents have highlighted the failure of school management to protect and secure the lives of children, the most vulnerable members of society,” Jagjit Singh Chhabra, advocate for the petitioner, said in the application seeking an urgent hearing.