For a successful democratic system, education is a fundamental requirement: Karnataka HC

The Karnataka High Court recently observed that for a successful democratic system, education is a fundamental requirement.

The bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna said that it is necessary to build strong children, for which it is imperative to repair the broken will of the officials manning such offices.

"It is trite that the social and economic development of the nation depends upon its educated population," the single judge bench said.

The court observed so while dealing with the plea moved by the school development and monitoring committee of a government lower primary school, for rebuilding a new building for the school.

The school, which was established 35 years ago, had a building consisting of two rooms, a kitchen and a toilet, but the same was demolished when in 2016, the National Highways Authority of India undertook a project of widening and upgrading Bangalore – Mysore Highway.

Against the demolition of the school building, the NHAI had awarded a compensation of about Rs. 67 lacks to the school committee. However, when the school committee made a representation to the Block Education officer for allotment of alternative land for constructing a new building for the school, the same was not entertained.

Subsequently, in the year 2020, the state government asked the school committee to immediately deposit the NHAI's compensation amount to the consolidated account of the state. The school committee then took a small room to set up the classes for the students.

The school committee sought direction from the court to the government to take immediate action for initiation of the process of identification of land and rebuilding of the school.

The plea, on the other hand, was opposed by the state government, which said that the committee had no locus to file the present plea. The counsel for the government also apprised the court that the 25 students enrolled in the concerned school had been accommodated in another school already functioning within a kilometer of the old school's building.

The committee, however, informed the court that the students had to cross the highway to reach the said alternate school.

Court observed that the state is under the constitutional obligation to provide education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years for which purpose it is the duty of the State to provide/create necessary infrastructure and effective machinery for proper implementation of the said right, failing which, the right to education guaranteed under Article 21-A would remain illusory.

"The right under Article 21A has become a mockery in the case at hand, not at the instance of any private players, but at the instance of officials of the State owing to the ever-known malady of 'red tapism'," the court stressed.

Court further emphasised that the communications made between the offices, which were brought on record, clearly indicated that the right to free and compulsory education of children, particularly in the government school, was treated with utmost callousness by the state officials.

"The State ought to have taken immediate steps, on receipt of compensation amount in the year 2020 from the National Highways Authorities, in reply to the representation of the Committee to construct school building without any loss of time, so that the young children would not lose their education," said the court.

Therefore, while highlighting that the concerned children were wholly dependent on free and compulsory education provided by the state, court directed the state authorities to identify/approve identified land for the construction of a new building for the school.

"Identification of land and construction of the building shall commence from 01-06-2023 and be completed within four months," court ordered.

Case Title: THE SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT AND MONITORING COMMITTEE GOVERNMENT LOWER PRIMARY SCHOOL AGARALINGANA DODDI v. STATE OF KARNATAKA AND OTHERS