The death of tribal student Shailaja is raising serious concerns over the state of affairs in Telangana. Shailaja, a 16-year-old student of Tribal Welfare Residential School, Wankidi, succumbed to death, after battling for life for over 25 days at NIMS, Hyderabad.
Shailaja got admitted in NIMS, after falling ill due to food poisoning, on October 30. She was among 50 students who fell ill after eating contaminated food.
The incident of students falling ill due to food posising in Wankidi ST Gurukul, became a statewide issue on the first day itself. What’s shocking is, inspite of it, Government has not addressed the issue in a committed and comprehensive manner.
While Shailaja might have been moved to NIMS, it has to be ascertained whether any Minister or senior official personally monitored her treatment. What’s ironic is, Government has not taken any action on the officials responsible for food poisoning, which posed serious theat to students lives.
It is also not known, whether any Minister or senior official has done a fact finding exercise over students food poisoning. Meanwhile Opposition BRS leaders took up the issue and criticised Revanth Reddy Sarkar for ignoring students.
As Opposition started attacking Government on Wankidi issue, instead of addressing it in a considerate way, Revanth Sarkar tried to suppress the issue. However things went out of hand, unfortunately a young girl with bright future lost her life.
Political blame game is expected to continue on Shailaja’s death. But one thing which needs attention is, Revanth Reddy Sarkar needs to step up its focus on schools and colleges and ensure safety and wellbeing of students. Absence of a full time Education Minister is also leading to ineffective management of government schools and colleges.
CM Revanth Reddy has been presenting himself as a leader, who is promoting education and skills for the brighter future of younger generation. But just making statements or launching initiatives like Young India Skills University, which will take time to show results, are not enough. CM should immediately focus on streamlining the existing schools and colleges, address the problems plauging these educational institutions to avoid incidents like Shailaja’s death in the future.
Dnr
