NCPCR, CWC initiate fresh probe over student 'bringing non-veg food' in UP school

AMROHA: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has ordered the district magistrate to conduct a probe into the allegations of a private school here allegedly suspending a nursery student for bringing "non-vegetarian food" in tiffin box. Hilton Convent School's principal Avnish Kumar Sharma has also been directed by the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to appear before even as the student's mother claimed her three children have stopped going to school out of fear and she may seek legal recourse.

The incident first came to light on September 6 when a video of a heated argument between the principal and the boy's mother surfaced on social media platforms. The principal alleged that the boy, who hails from the Muslim community, used to make religious comments in school and brought non-veg food every day. A probe into the alleged misconduct by the principal found that the charges of him holding the student hostage and removing him from the institution were baseless.

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As the issue refused to die down, the NCPCR, the country's apex child rights body, ordered the District Magistrate Rajesh Kumar Tyagi on Thursday to conduct a fresh probe on the issue and submit a report in 10 days. CWC Chairman Atulesh Kumar Bhardwaj also told mediapersons that the committee has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

He emphasised the committee's authority to investigate harassment cases involving minor children and take appropriate action. Education department officials said the mother of the affected student has three children enrolled in the same school. "What happened that day in the school has shaken all my children so much that they are now scared of even going to the school," the mother (name withheld to protect the identity of the minor student) told PTI.

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In the video, principal Sharma was seen claiming that the student had been making inappropriate comments to his classmates and was offering them non-vegetarian food, a charge refuted by the mother. She has also said she was not satisfied with the findings of the probe and suggested she intended legal recourse. "I will move court to seek justice for my children," she said and denied claims that she had approached the district education department seeking a transfer of her children to a different school.