Mumbai: Taking a serious note of several unnatural deaths of children in Ashram Shalas (schools) in Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court questioned the state over its accountability. A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar also expressed concern over the poor conditions of these schools and said that the schemes meant for their welfare never reach them.
About The PIL
While hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) by Ravindra Umakant Talpe, the court was informed that about 80 unnatural deaths had occurred in the Ashram Shalas in the last one year. State runs Ashram Shalas in remote areas to impart education to tribal children. At present, there are 497 government ashram schools and 544 aided ashram schools run by private institutions under the Tribal Development Department of Maharashtra.
A chart was submitted to the court on October 9 which said that in 2023-24, 78 children died in government-run schools while 60 died in aided schools. Between 2019 and 2024, 493 children died in government schools and 318 in aided schools. The bench asked state’s advocate Prajakta Shinde to visit these schools and look at their conditions.
Observation Made By The Bench
“You have given them the name of an ashram school and see their plight,” the bench said. “There is a problem of their assimilation into society, there is a problem with their education and clothing. Go to any one of these schools…, and then you will be in a better position to impress upon the secretary of the department,” the judges remarked.
Talpe filed the PIL in 2013 alleging that inadequate public utilities in these schools have led to many deaths. Petitioner’s advocate Uday Warunjikar submitted that the figure of 80 unnatural deaths was given a few years back, and has remained the same. Warunjikar pointed out that recommendations from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to improve safety in these schools have not been implemented by the government. The bench directed the state and the petitioner to file respective affidavits in two weeks providing details of the gap between TISS’ recommendations and the actions taken by the state. The HC has kept the PIL for hearing on November 14.
