Organised under the banner All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO), school children, on Tuesday, staged a protest demonstration outside the office of Deputy Commissioner in Ballari demanding the authorities repair the government school buildings.
The agitating children alleged that many government school buildings in the district, especially those in the rural areas, were damaged and classes were being conducted there putting the lives of both children and teachers in danger.
“The condition of government school buildings in Ballari district is pathetic. Some are too old and others are in a bad state. The roof of a school building at Kallukamba village in Kurugod taluk had recently collapsed just 30 minutes after the school was closed. A major tragedy was averted as it happened after school hours. In another incident, the cement plaster of the ceiling of a government school building at Shankarabande village fell and injured a girl. It is learnt that the girl later died in the hospital. There are many schools in the district which get flooded in the rains every year,” Kambali Manjunath, district secretary of AIDSO, said during the agitation demanding the district administration to take up the school building repair work on priority basis.
Later, a memorandum with a list of demands was submitted to the office of the Deputy Commissioner. The demands included putting in place all the basic amenities like drinking water, toilets, playgrounds, libraries and laboratories in all the schools, filling the vacancies of both teaching and non-teaching posts, dropping the idea of closing the government schools in the name of merger and paying the compensation to the kin of the girl who died after ceiling plaster fell on her at Shankarabande village.
