Students protest ‘harsh treatment’ by Bhopal school official, vandalise property

Alleging ‘mistreatment’ by the ‘discipline in-charge’ of their school, students of Bhopal’s Sarojini Naidu Government Girls Higher Secondary School protested by vandalising its property in the Madhya Pradesh capital on Wednesday.
Also protesting outside the school, the girls blocked a road in front of it . They alleged that Varsha Jha, the discipline in-charge, used to give them harsh punishment on coming late and made them stand in scorching heat.
A protesting student told ANI that there have also been incidents of students fainting due to extreme heat. She demanded the official’s removal.
Meanwhile, Malini Verma, principal of Sarojini Naidu Girls Higher Secondary School, informed media that Jha is retired from the army.
“There is a discipline in-charge at the school who stopped students when they came in late. No teacher was involved in giving punishment to any student. Varsha Jha is not a teacher here; she is a retired Captain from the military and appointed here as a discipline in-charge. All the officers from our department are present and they will take the requisite action,” Verma said.
According to Mayur Khandelwal, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Habibganj, a police team was sent to the spot after school authorities informed them about the ruckus.
“We received information from Sarojini Naidu School that there were a few demands of the students due to which a law and order issue developed at the school. We arrived here and we are trying to convince the students and coordinating with the management,” the ACP stated.
The matter ended when the discipline in-charge was finally removed.
“The demands of the students to remove the captain (discipline in-charge) have been fulfilled and they should now go back to their classes,” said Narendra Kumar, District Education Officer, Bhopal.