Madhya Pradesh: SC, ST girls barred from playing volleyball in government school

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The girl students of a government school in Vidisha have not been playing volleyball on its playground for past one month.

The girls, some of whom have participated in state and national-level tournaments, said that principal did not allow them to use school playground. They said Vinod Chaudhary who took charge as school principal a year back dissuaded them from playing. For past one month, they are not allowed to enter the playground.

The girls, most of whom belong to SC, ST, are students of Government Maharani Laxmi Bai Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Vidisha. They told Free Press that their complaints to the District Education Officer have fallen on deaf ears. The school conducts classes from 6-12.

On April 28, when they were practising on the ground, principal Vinod Chaudhary and a teacher BS Tomar told them “to get lost”. When they argued, they were threatened that they would be rusticated from school. They were also told that that their limbs would be broken.

When they reached playground again, they were shooed away. The girls met District Education Officer on April 29 who asked them to follow their principal’s instructions. “We told him that we have been playing for the past 10 years and had participated in state and national tournaments. But he did not relent,” a girl said.

The girls, in a written complaint submitted to the State Commission for Women on Tuesday, said that on May 1, when they were trying to convince the principal to allow them to use playground, he lost temper and slapped one of the players and misbehaved with their coach.

They have also lodged complaints with State Child Commission and the local police station. They said that they lodged complaints 11 times on CM Helpline but no action was taken.

Complaint, yes

We have received a written complaint from girl students. We will be forwarding it to the district collector for further action.

-Shivkumar Sharma, secretary, MP State Commission for Women

Charges baseless

The complaint is false. There is no question of stopping girls of our school from playing on the ground. But outsider girls come to play on the ground. This cannot be allowed.

-Vinod Chaudhary, principal, Govt MLB Girls’ School, Vidisha