Durg (Chhattisgarh) [India], November 22 : In compliance with a recent Supreme Court directive, the Chhattisgarh Education Department on Saturday appointed nodal officers to report incidents involving stray dogs and cattle near school premises.
State Education Minister Gajendra Yadav said the education department issued an order on Friday to ensure continuous monitoring of stray animals entering or roaming around schools.
"Yesterday, our department issued an order in accordance with the Supreme Court's directive. We were instructed to constantly monitor any stray animals, whether dogs or cattle, within or entering the school premises," Yadav said to ANI.
Yadav highlighted a recent incident that accelerated the decision. "An incident occurred a few days ago at a school in our Baroda Bazar district, where a dog spoiled the food that was being prepared for midday meals. This cost us approximately Rs 22 lakh," he said.
To prevent this, Yadav said, "We monitor the number of dogs on campus and inform the Municipal Corporation and Gram Panchayat, urging them to find and implement a solution for their removal."
Addressing concerns that teachers were being burdened with additional duties, the minister clarified that no educator has been assigned to monitor dogs specifically.
"There is no need to be misguided. We have not assigned any teacher to monitor the dogs. However, it should be a teacher's job to monitor who's coming and going in their school," Yadav said.
Earlier, on November 7, the Supreme Court, while taking into consideration the "alarming rise of dog bite incidents", ordered all states and Union Territories (UTs) to ensure the removal of all stray dogs from educational institutions, hospitals, public sports complexes, bus stands, railway stations, etc.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria stated that all these institutions and places must be properly fenced to prevent the entry of stray dogs.
The stray dogs should not be released to the same spot from which they were picked up, the bench ordered. It also said that permitting their return would "frustrate the very purpose" of securing such premises and addressing public safety concerns.
"They will not be released back in the same area since releasing them back will frustrate the very purpose of the directive of the court," said the bench.
It will be the responsibility of the concerned local government institutions to collect stray dogs from such institutions/areas and transfer them to designated dog shelters after vaccination and sterilisation in accordance with the Animal Birth Control Rules, the bench directed.
Chief Secretaries of all states and Union Territories shall ensure strict compliance with the order; otherwise, officers will be held personally responsible, it said.
The apex court also stated that a nodal officer must be appointed for the upkeep and surveillance of each such premises, and local municipal authorities and panchayats must conduct periodic inspections for at least three months and report back to the court.
It asked the status report to be filed within eight weeks, indicating a mechanism had been developed to carry out directions.