Chandigarh, Dec 19 (PTI) The opposition Tuesday slammed the BJP-led dispensation in Haryana over alleged sexual harassment of girl students in a government school in Jind and asked the state government to take appropriate measures to prevent such incidents in the future.

Education Minister Kanwar Pal said the state government is committed to ensure the safety and security of girl students in schools.

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In the Jind case, the minister said the accused principal was dismissed from service on December 11, and 17 staff members of the school have been shifted to other schools.

The minister was replying to a calling attention notice on the alleged sexual harassment of several girl students in the school.

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The accused principal was last month arrested after being booked under various provisions of the law, including sections 354-A (sexual harassment), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Participating in the discussion in the winter session of the Haryana Assembly, INLD MLA Abhay Chautala called it "a very serious matter" and suggested that all such sexual harassment cases should be tried in fast track courts and strictest punishment should be ensured to whosoever is found guilty of such heinous crimes.

Independent MLA Balraj Kundu, while referring to the accused principal, said a person who was supposed to protect, indulged in such "shameful" acts and such people deserve strict punishment.

Congress MLAs alleged lack of basic facilities like separate toilets, drinking water facilities etc in many government schools. Party legislator B B Batra alleged basic amenities like separate toilets for girl students are lacking in many government schools.

Another Congress MLA Kiran Choudhary said crime against women has risen in the state. "There are many schools where separate toilets for girls are not there," she alleged.

Another Congress MLA Varun Chaudhary said women officials should be deputed in government schools for hearing complaints of girl students.

In his reply, minister Kanwal Pal said the matter of sexual harassment in the government school in Jind allegedly by the principal is in the notice of the government and "concrete steps" have been taken in this case.

"After the matter came to the government's notice, the delinquent principal was suspended on October 27. When the allegations of sexual harassment were prima facie proved, he was dismissed from service with effect from December 11," he said in the House.

Further, after examination of the preliminary enquiry reports and considering the gravity of the matter, 17 staff members of the government school were also transferred from the school to the other schools, he said.

The government is committed to ensure safety and security of all school going children especially girl students, he asserted.

He also said that the government is running training and self-defence programmes, especially for girl students of government schools to educate and empower them regarding prevention of sexual abuse. --

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)