Over 10 lakh children out of schools/anganawadis in Karnataka, K'taka High Court told
Bengaluru(PTI): The High Court of Karnataka has been informed that as many as over 10 lakh children below the age of 14 in the State are out of schools and anganawadis.
The survey report was submitted to the court by 'amicus curiae' in a public interest litigation (PIL) senior advocate K N Phaneendra. The PIL was initiated on its own by the court in 2013 and Acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe heard the case on Wednesday.
The submission contains the status report of children collected through door-to-door survey conducted by various government departments including Urban Development, Rural Development, Women and Child Development Department and others.
The court recorded the report and directed the committee of higher officials constituted by it to meet on July 16 and find ways to bring back children, especially those between three and six years of age, to anganwadis.
Hearing of the case was adjourned to July 19.
The survey was conducted in rural Karnataka in October 2021 and in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and 319 urban local body limits in March 2022.
The report says 15,338 children aged between six and 14 are out of school across Karnataka. Another 4.54 lakh children below the age of three are not enrolled in anganawadis. An additional 5.33 lakh children between 4 and 6 are also not enrolled. Thus a total of 10.12 lakh children are out of the education system in the state.
In urban areas, a total of 33.42 lakh homes were surveyed and 13.73 lakh children below the age of 18 were identified. In rural areas, 84.02 lakh homes were surveyed and 35.24 children were identified.
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
