A platoon of greater than 20 State Reserve Police Power (SRPF) personnel staying in school rooms of a dilapidated Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC) college in south Mumbai’s Gulalwadi was shifted after a video of their keep was extensively shared on social media and the civic physique requested police to vacate the premises.
The difficulty got here to gentle after Chaitali Doshi, a 47-year-old unbiased volunteer related to the ‘College Thik Karo’ marketing campaign, visited the varsity on Wednesday.
Doshi, who’s learning for a grasp’s diploma in Gujarati literature at SNDT Girls’s College, mentioned that when she visited the varsity, round 47 college students have been attending lessons in two divisions.
“I discovered that two classrooms had been given to police personnel, who have been sleeping there. I used to be involved as a result of college students are learning in the identical college,” she mentioned.
Doshi mentioned she initially needed to persuade the varsity principal that her go to was geared toward highlighting points confronted by the scholars and enhancing the varsity. After being allowed inside, she discovered a number of issues with the varsity constructing and amenities.
“A lot of the youngsters learning on this college come from underprivileged backgrounds. An NGO working with the scholars helps them with numerous necessities,” she mentioned.
In keeping with Doshi, the varsity constructing is in a poor situation and the third and fourth flooring have been closed. She additionally alleged that a number of benches and doorways have been damaged and the library and books weren’t being maintained correctly.
Whereas taking a spherical of the varsity, Doshi mentioned she seen some SRPF personnel staying contained in the premises. She additionally alleged that some personnel weren’t correctly dressed whereas staying within the school rooms.
“An NGO employee advised me that they’d requested the police personnel a number of instances to not keep in such a fashion as a result of teenage college students are learning within the college,” Doshi mentioned.
After a video went viral, the schooling officer approached the police commissioner and the native police station with a request to vacate the premises.
A senior ward official mentioned the varsity constructing had already been declared dilapidated underneath the C2 class and required main repairs or reconstruction. As a security measure, the highest two flooring have been closed.
The official mentioned the SRPF personnel had earlier stayed on the higher flooring. After these flooring have been closed, the platoon was shifted to the second flooring, the place school rooms are additionally getting used in the course of the day.