‘Rajasthan school tragedy is man-made’

Expressing deep anguish over the collapse of a government school building in Rajasthan recently claiming the lives of seven innocent children, the All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) has held the Rajasthan government’s negligence and apathy towards public education responsible for the tragedy.

In a media note released on Sunday, AIDSO district secretary Tulajaram N.K. termed the incident a man-made disaster.

“This is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made tragedy caused by the failure of the Rajasthan government to maintain public infrastructure and ensure safe learning environments for children,” he said, offering condolences to the bereaved families and expressing solidarity with them during this difficult time on behalf of his organsiation.

Mr. Tulajaram said that the incident highlighted the sorry state of infrastructure in government schools across the country, many of which are in a state of disrepair. “Thousands of government school buildings are in disrepair. Poor maintenance, inadequate infrastructure and chronic underfunding have turned these institutions into death traps for lakhs of students,” it said.

Condemning the Central government’s response to the tragedy, he criticised the move to issue advisories instructing schools to prepare for “emergencies and natural disasters” and to coordinate with disaster management authorities.

“Instead of preventing such disasters, the Central government is asking students and teachers to prepare for them. This is outrageous,” the statement said.

The organisation also condemned the attempts to deflect blame onto students, teachers and school officials. “The root cause of the crisis lies in the systemic underfunding of government schools and the anti-public education policies such as the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which aims to privatise and corporatise education,” it claimed.

The organisation has demanded an impartial judicial inquiry into the Rajasthan school building collapse and strict punishment to those responsible, immediate inspection and repair of all unsafe government school buildings across the country, a significant increase in funding for infrastructure in public schools, withdrawal of NEP 2020 and formulation of a democratic, scientific and pro-people education policy and an immediate end to victim-blaming of students and teachers while placing accountability squarely on governments for ensuring school safety.

AIDSO has called upon all students, teachers, parents and citizens concerned across the country to join hands in resisting such negligence and to intensify the fight to protect and strengthen public education.