A villager was arrested and jailed after posting a video of a damaged government school
Police acted on a complaint from the education department after the video, recorded on Aug 16 at the consolidated school in Naoli Lalpur village under Sikandrarao, was shared widely on social media.
AGRA: A 30-year-old villager was arrested and sent to jail on Monday after posting a video showing a damaged and waterlogged portion of a govt school in Hathras, with the education department alleging that he selectively filmed an unused section and circulated “misleading facts” about the institution. Kuldeep Yadav, had filmed portions of the old school building that officials said were damaged during construction of the Mathura-Bareilly national highway and were no longer used for classes. In a report to senior officials, block education officer Vijay Chauhan said highway work had led to demolition of parts of the school, including classrooms, the boundary wall, hand-washing facilities and a ramp, while the remaining old section was left at a lower level and accumulated water during the monsoon. Chauhan said students were attending classes in newly constructed rooms provided by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and were using newly built toilets.
The absence of a boundary wall created a separate problem, allowing villagers to bring and tie cattle inside the school premises. The condition of the old building itself, however, was not disputed by the education department: its report acknowledged that highway construction had damaged several school facilities and that monsoon waterlogging affected the abandoned section shown in the video. Officials instead challenged the way the footage was presented, maintaining that it did not show the new classrooms and toilets currently being used by children.