The Maharashtra Tribal Development Department has permanently cancelled the recognition of a government-aided school in Gadchiroli district following the recent deaths of three tribal girl students due to snakebite, an official said on Wednesday.
The decision would mean the ‘ashram’ (residential) school at Japtalai will be closed, the official said, explaining that the students will be accommodated in nearby tribal schools.
Six students of the school were bitten by a snake, reportedly a common krait, while they were asleep on the night of August 9. Three of them died, while the others were admitted to hospitals for treatment.
Additional Tribal Commissioner (Nagpur) Ayushi Singh said that the residential school was a government-aided facility with 233 students and show-cause notices were issued to it following the snakebite incident.
After going through the school’s explanation over the incident, the Maharashtra Tribal Development Department concluded that the recognition of the concerned school should be cancelled, the official said.
Accordingly, the department recently cancelled the recognition of the residential tribal school, being run by the Kuparlingo Educational and Cultural Development Research Institute, at Japtalai village of Dhanora taluka, said Singh.
She said that the cancellation of recognition would lead to the closure of the school in this case, and the students will be admitted to nearby ashram schools after taking into account their parents’ preferences.
A 14-year-old girl who was among the six students bitten by the snake was in critical condition despite undergoing brain surgery, an official had said on Tuesday.
Samruddhi Netam, initially admitted to the District General Hospital, was shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur, in a specially equipped ambulance on August 15 after her condition deteriorated.
Medical Superintendent of GMCH Dr Avinash Gawande said on Tuesday that doctors suspected that the snake venom, along with other complications, had caused significant brain damage.
The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the Maharashtra chief secretary over the death of the tribal girls and sought a report from the state government on the incident.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has declared snakebite a notifiable disease, making it mandatory for all hospitals, medical colleges and healthcare professionals to report every suspected or confirmed case and death.
