Administration officials inspect the school in Maswan, Palghar, on Tuesday
Palghar: A day after a seven-year-old student died at an ashram school in Maswan village, Palghar district, after developing a fever and 30 others reported similar symptoms, the district administration on Tuesday suspended the school’s superintendent for alleged negligence and set up a special investigation team (SIT). The death of Shreyans Abant, a Class 1 student, prompted senior officials, including zilla parishad chief executive officer Manoj Ranade, Khatri, and a deputy commissioner from the tribal development department, to inspect the school. Thirty who reported symptoms such as fever and cough were taken to the primary healthcare centre at Maswan.
“Further action will be taken after the inquiry committee submits its report,” said tribal development project officer Vishal Khatri. Show-cause notices were also issued to the president and the secretary of Adivasi Seva Mandal, which runs the school, as well as the headmaster. The SIT will probe the circumstances surrounding the child’s death and examine the arrangements made for students’ health, food and safety at the residential school. It will assess whether there were lapses in student care and supervision. A team from the state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected the school’s food preparation facilities. Samples of spices, turmeric, chilli powder, cooking oil containers and other ingredients used to prepare meals were sent for testing. A water purifier has been installed at the school to ensure safe drinking water for students. Following Shreyans’s death, health authorities had screened other students at the school. Of them, five were later shifted to the rural hospital at Manor for further treatment.