High court orders fire safety measures for government schools in Karnataka

by Featured NewsSafety

Court mandates compliance for all schools in fire safety and structural stability

The Karnataka High Court has directed the principal secretary of the state education department to ensure government schools comply with legal obligations, including obtaining structural stability certificates, sanctioned plans, and fire-safety compliance measures.

According to a recent court order by Justice Suraj Govindaraj, the education department must create an action plan and submit a detailed project report within six weeks.

This directive also includes the development of an IT portal on the department’s website to monitor compliance by all schools.

IT portal to streamline school compliance reporting

The court emphasised the need for a portal to facilitate compliance monitoring.

Justice Govindaraj stated: “The portal should be connected with all departments, organisations, and authorities concerned by using an application programming interface (API) or the like.”

This system would enable schools to upload compliance documents while ensuring their authenticity and veracity can be verified.

The court highlighted that permissions and sanctions related to schools should be integrated into the portal to streamline processes.

The directive was issued in response to a petition filed by the Organisation for Unaided Recognized Schools and others.

They challenged a 2022 circular mandating fire-safety measures, arguing that government schools implementing midday meal schemes had yet to meet similar standards.

Government school compliance under scrutiny

Justice Govindaraj noted discrepancies in the recognition process for schools, criticising the education department for granting provisional recognition before compliance with regulations.

He stated: “The grant of recognition under the Education Act will not substitute the requirement of any other law in force.”

The court also pointed out that there is no methodology in place to ensure whether compliance conditions are met within the prescribed one-year timeframe.

As a result, the education department has continued to issue recognition to schools without verifying adherence to these conditions.

Deadline for compliance extended

To address these issues, the High Court granted schools additional time to comply with local municipal laws, building bylaws, and all other applicable regulations.

The deadline extends to the commencement of the next academic year, ensuring institutions have sufficient time to align with the legal framework.

High court orders fire safety measures for Karnataka schools: Summary

The Karnataka High Court has directed the education department to ensure all schools, including government institutions, comply with fire safety, structural stability, and other legal requirements.

An IT portal will be developed to monitor compliance, integrating permissions and sanctions from relevant authorities.

The directive follows a petition highlighting discrepancies in government school compliance compared to private institutions.

The High Court criticised the current recognition process, granting schools an extended deadline to adhere to applicable laws.

A detailed project report and action plan must be submitted within six weeks.

Hospitals in Karnataka slow to carry out fire safety audit

by Featured NewsSafety

Only 44 out of 166 government hospitals in Karnataka, a state in the south western region of India, have completed a fire safety audit within the two week period set out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as fire accidents have been on the rise sue to summer heat, according to reports.

Modi spoke at a video conference with Chief Ministers on 27 April suggesting that all states conduct fire safety audits. Over two weeks since the Health Department directed 16 district and 150 taluk hospitals to complete the audit, only 27% have completed the exercise. The May 21 deadline has now been extended until the end of the month.

To aid he process, the Health Department approved ₹82 lakh for the fire audits of 166 hospitals (at ₹50,000 each hospital) under the National Health Mission (NHM), relasing the funds on May 18.

State Health Commissioner Randeep D. attributed the slow action to procedural delays: “Funds have been released to the 166 hospitals and the DHOs have been asked to facilitate the audit of hospitals in their districts by the end of this month. So far, 44 hospitals have completed the audits,” he said.

“The recent incidents of fire accidents in hospitals have reinforced the need for compliance with fire safety measures in hospitals across the State,” he added.

Commenting on fire safety in hospitals, C.N. Manjunath, director of the State-run Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, said: “Hospitals have a multitude of flammable materials, each with different degrees of combustibility, each reacting differently to heat and fire.

“It is mandatory for hospitals to have smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, a fire escape route plan, fire exit LED signages with two hours power backup, fluorescent arrow directions and adequate space for fire tenders to operate.”