Not possible to check all schools: Police chief

The directive issued by the City police on July 26 asking schools to implement safety guidelines by August 31 now seems like a knee-jerk reaction to the Vibgyor High rape incident.

The police acknowledge that there are no procedures in place to ensure their compliance as a result of which the directive is likely to end up as a dead letter.

“It is impossible for the police to check every school as there are thousands in Bangalore. It was an order issued to them  (schools) through the media. Wide publicity was given to the safety guidelines. The police felt that the schools would comply with the guidelines,” Police Commissioner M N Reddi told Deccan Herald on Tuesday.

“The commissioner for public instruction had already issued a few guidelines. But the police felt they were insufficient. Hence, a decision was taken to issue a set of fresh guidelines through an order,” Reddi said.

In retrospect, it appears that the top brass of the Bangalore Police failed to consider all aspects before issuing the guidelines. Moreover, there was a change of guard after the incident came to light.

The new police bosses seemed eager to show they were acting after their predecessors were criticised for inaction.

A section of the police now concedes that several guidelines are next to impossible for schools to implement. The police top brass were not aware that it was beyond the capacity of the government schools to implement the guidelines. Further, the police did not consult the commissioner for public instruction before finalising the guidelines, a police officer said.

But Reddi defended his move saying that there was no need for the police to discuss with representatives of schools and top authorities of the education department as it was purely an order issued by the commissioner of police.

Officials said the police failed to ensure if the guidelines were being implemented by the school managements once the order was issued. They did not even cross check if the school managements, principals and head masters were aware of the guidelines issued by the police.

There was no mechanism to ensure the police commissioner's order had reached all the schools.

Meanwhile, hearing a plea by the Karnataka State Private School Management, Justice A N Venugopalagowda directed the schools to inform about how many days they require to implement these guidelines which they feel they cannot do so.

The petitioners had moved the High Court challenging the circular stating that some of the guidelines cannot be implemented as they are practically impossible.

Meet to discuss safety measures

A consultative meeting has been convened by the Commissioner for Public Instruction on Wednesday at 10:30 am at Shikshakara Sadana to discuss measures to ensure safety of children at school and to take measures to prevent incidents of sexual assaults, said Police Commissioner M N Reddi, reports DHNS.