MARGAO: In a damning report, the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR) accuses the Boys and Girls Hostel of PM SHRI Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Canacona of gross neglect and endangerment of its resident children. GSCPCR has released a comprehensive inspection report detailing alarming conditions at the Boys and Girls Hostel of PM SHRI Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Canacona. Conducted on March 15, this surprise inspection has unearthed severe inadequacies and non-compliance issues that significantly endanger the health, safety, and welfare of the resident children.
Following this inspection, GSCPCR issued urgent directives to address critical issues. These actions, spanning from immediate to structural changes, aim to significantly enhance living standards and ensure student health and safety. Key mandates include comprehensive cleaning, structured medicine management to secure and supervise medication use, and installing fire safety equipment with necessary training.
The directives also tackle infrastructural and administrative shortcomings, stressing the need for improved toilet facilities, a revamped administrative approach with a new warden for enhanced supervision, and counselling services to support student well-being. Addressing overcrowding involves evaluating hostel capacity for potential expansion. Emphasis is placed on sanitary practices, including installing napkin incinerators and creating designated laundry areas. Establishing a hostel inspection committee was also recommended, for ongoing improvement and a safer, healthier environment for students.
GSCPCR demanded swift remedial actions from the institution’s administration, emphasising that failure to comply within the stipulated timeframe will result in legal action under the CPCR Act 2005.
“The inspections unveiled a distressing truth: a prevalent atmosphere of neglect and indifference. From the nauseating odour of filthy toilets to the sight of clothes drying inside dormitories, from apathetic staff to the absence of adequate supervision and essential services such as counselling and sanitary napkin disposal, every aspect screams of a system failing to meet even the most basic standards of care. With the warden’s oversight being lax, every aspect of their living conditions reflects institutional neglect,” said Peter F Borges, GSCPCR Chairperson.
“This isn’t merely an oversight; it’s a systemic breakdown and neglect over a period of time that demands immediate, resolute action. The safety and dignity of our children are non-negotiable,” he added.
