"School Did Not Inform": Father Of 6-Year-Old Who Died At Palghar Ashram School

The family learnt about the death from another student, not from school authorities, claims the father of a six-year-old, one of the two students who died in the last 20 days at Maharashtra's tribal ashram school at Masvan in Palghar.

The student who died had been suffering from fever for two days. He attended school on Monday but his condition suddenly deteriorated and he developed breathing difficulty. He died while being taken to hospital, officials said.

"The school administration did not inform us of the death; we learned about the incident only after another student called us," the father of the six-year-old has alleged.

As a precautionary measure, 26 students showing mild symptoms of cold, cough or fever were placed under medical observation at the Maswan Primary Health Centre, where their condition was reported to be stable, the official said.

The deaths of two young children within a month have raised serious questions about the functioning of the Tribal Development Department.

This comes after three tribal girls died from a venomous snakebite after sleeping on the floor of a residential school in Gadchiroli district earlier this month.

The Integrated Tribal Development Project officer Vishal Khatri visited the school and the health centre to meet the hospitalised students and their parents. He found severe deficiencies regarding drinking water and basic amenities, prompting him to severely reprimand the management.

Officials inspecting the school in Palghar

Strict instructions have been issued to District Health Officer Dr Santosh Chaudhary to conduct immediate health check-ups for all students and to start immediate treatment for any sick children.

"As per the advice of the district health officer, a fresh health check-up drive was conducted at the Maswan ashram school. Essential measures for campus sanitation and water purification are being carried out in the institution, and all necessary precautions will be taken to prevent the recurrence of such unfortunate incidents," Khatri told news agency PTI.

Following the incident, senior health and administration officials visited the school, which houses 395 resident students out of 449 total enrollees, and a medical team conducted a full health screening on the campus.

An average of nearly one student died every day in Maharashtra's ashram schools over the last two years, taking the total death toll to 584 across state-run and government-aided residential facilities during the period, officials said earlier this month.

The causes of death ranged from snakebites and sickle cell disease to serious illnesses, accidents, and suicides, they said.

(With inputs from Manoj Satvi)