Recently, I read in a local daily about the Directorate of Education (DoE) instructing schools and colleges, whether government-aided or private, to enforce a 500-metre drug-free zone in their respective areas. The director has been issuing order after order to heads of educational institutions, as if they were law-enforcement agencies. I hope he has also written to the respective departments, including the police, Collector, Mamlatdar, local bodies, and village health and sanitation committees, asking them to work together to enforce the drug- and tobacco-free zone. I would also add the issue of semi-clad advertisements near schools.
Many years ago, the Village Child Committee wrote to the DoE asking it to address the issue of such advertisements and petrol pumps near schools. The director did not respond to my letter. Now, just because the orders have come from Delhi and the government is part of the ‘double-engine’ arrangement, circulars are being issued.
It is important for the COPTA committee and the police to conduct surprise checks. We need many more Tukaram Mundes to keep our schools free from obscene advertisements, drugs and tobacco within the 500-metre school zones.
Gregory E D’souza, Siolim
