Durg (Chhattisgarh) [India], December 15 (HBTV): In compliance with a recent Supreme Court directive, the Chhattisgarh Education Department has appointed nodal officers to report incidents involving stray dogs and cattle in and around school premises.
State Education Minister Gajendra Yadav said the department issued an order on Friday to ensure continuous monitoring of stray animals entering or roaming near schools. He said the move follows instructions issued by the Supreme Court to safeguard educational institutions.
Yadav referred to a recent incident that hastened the decision, stating that a dog entered a school in Baroda Bazar district and spoiled food being prepared for the midday meal scheme, resulting in a loss of approximately INR 22 lakh. He said monitoring the presence of stray animals on school campuses would help prevent such incidents, adding that information would be shared with municipal corporations and gram panchayats to ensure appropriate action for their removal.
Addressing concerns about teachers being burdened with additional responsibilities, the minister clarified that no teacher has been specifically assigned to monitor stray animals. He said teachers are only expected to remain aware of who is entering and leaving school premises as part of their regular duties.
Earlier, on November 7, the Supreme Court, citing the alarming rise in dog bite incidents, directed all states and Union Territories to ensure the removal of stray dogs from educational institutions, hospitals, public sports complexes, bus stands and railway stations. A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria ordered that such premises must be properly fenced to prevent the entry of stray animals.
The bench also directed that stray dogs should not be released back into the same areas from where they were picked up, stating that doing so would defeat the purpose of securing public spaces and ensuring safety. It said the responsibility of collecting stray dogs from these locations and transferring them to designated shelters, after vaccination and sterilisation in accordance with the Animal Birth Control Rules, would lie with the concerned local government institutions.
The court further directed chief secretaries of all states and Union Territories to ensure strict compliance with the order, warning that officers would be held personally responsible for any failure. It also mandated the appointment of nodal officers for the upkeep and surveillance of each such premises, along with periodic inspections by local municipal authorities and panchayats for at least three months. The apex court asked states to file a status report within eight weeks outlining the mechanism developed to implement the directions.
(ANI)