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By:

Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Deadly Neglect

The deaths of three tribal girls following a snakebite at a residential school in Gadchiroli have cast a distinctly unfavourable light on the standards of care in Maharashtra’s tribal hostels. A total six girls were bitten while sleeping on the floor, raising questions about basic accommodation, preventive measures and the oversight of institutions entrusted with the care of some of Maharashtra’s most disadvantaged children. A properly maintained hostel and basic preventive measures can...

Deadly Neglect

The deaths of three tribal girls following a snakebite at a residential school in Gadchiroli have cast a distinctly unfavourable light on the standards of care in Maharashtra’s tribal hostels. A total six girls were bitten while sleeping on the floor, raising questions about basic accommodation, preventive measures and the oversight of institutions entrusted with the care of some of Maharashtra’s most disadvantaged children. A properly maintained hostel and basic preventive measures can certainly reduce the likelihood that a snakebite becomes a mass casualty event. Residential schools for tribal children exist precisely because many of their students come from remote and disadvantaged communities. The state assumes responsibility for their education, accommodation, food and safety. The inevitable official response of a detailed inquiry into the tragedy is hardly reassuring. The district administration has said it will establish whether adequate protective measures were in place and whether the school management complied with safety rules. The Maharashtra administration has conducted enough inquiries till now to know that the discovery of a lapse is not the same thing as fixing the system that produced it. The questions are elementary. Were sufficient beds available? If not, why not? Was the hostel building properly sealed? Were doors, windows and drains inspected? Was pest and snake control undertaken? Were mosquito nets and other basic protective equipment provided? Was there adequate lighting and night supervision? How frequently had the hostel been inspected? And were funds allocated for these facilities actually spent on them? The last question deserves particular attention. Tribal residential schools have for years been vulnerable to the familiar maladies of public administration, most notably gross corruption. Inadequate oversight, poor maintenance, opaque procurement and the fact that money and food intended for children disappears somewhere between the budget and the beneficiary has become all too common. More crucially, Gadchiroli is not politically ownerless. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is its guardian minister, making the quality of governance in the district an especially important test of the state government’s claims about tribal development. The answer cannot be another round of condolences followed by an inquiry whose findings gather dust. The government should use this tragedy to conduct a comprehensive and independent safety audit of every tribal residential hostel in Gadchiroli, with the findings and corrective measures made public. Beds, sanitation, building maintenance, pest control, emergency medical arrangements and night-time supervision should be treated as measurable standards, not discretionary amenities. Three girls have died in the most appalling manner. The least the state can do is ensure that their deaths expose a failure that is then corrected, rather than an outrage that is briefly mourned and administratively forgotten.

Maharashtra gasps for ‘gas’

Workers load LPG cylinders at a depot following recent price hikes for both domestic and commercial units in Nagpur on Tuesday. | Pic: PTI
Workers load LPG cylinders at a depot following recent price hikes for both domestic and commercial units in Nagpur on Tuesday. | Pic: PTI

 

Mumbai: An abrupt shortage of commercial LPG cylinders gripped many parts of Mumbai and Maharashtra hitting the hospitality sector and raising fears of a larger crisis as the Centre invoked the stringent Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1968, in a warning to potential hoarders.

 

Mumbai and surroundings are feeling the pinch of the commercial LPG (19-kg) cylinders used in restaurants, hotels, caterers, street-food vendors and other players in the food supply chains that feed crores daily.

 

Dealers claim that LPG supplies have been delayed or dropped sharply since last weekend, creating panic even among domestic consumers.

 

Maharashtra LPG dealers association president Deepak Singh admitted “some delays due to supply shortages” of commercial cylinders, but assured that there is no scarcity of domestic cylinders.

 

“We are adhering to the Centre’s guidelines for a 25 days booking period between 2 cylinders (domestic). The issue with commercial cylinders but even those are available though less in numbers. We are following the government’s guidelines by prioritising educational institutions, hospitals, and defence, but others are also getting their supplies,” said Singh in a social media statement.

 

However, the hotels and restaurants bodies said that around 20 pc of eateries, particularly the smaller ones have temporarily shut shop, and around 50 pc may down shutters within the next few days if the LPG supplies don’t normalise.

 

FHRAI Vice-President and HRAWI Western India Spokesperson Pradeep Shetty said that “shortage of commercial LPG has become extremely serious over the past week”, with intermittent disruptions escalating into a near complete halt in supply in several regions since yesterday.

 

The Ministry of Petroleum’s notification (March 5) created confusion among suppliers and distributors, many of whom have stopped supplying commercial LPG cylinders to hotels, restaurants and food service establishments, he pointed out.

 

Shetty said severe shortages are reported from Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur, and similar disruptions in many other states and if the situation doesn’t improve by Thursday, there could be huge repercussions.

 

“Nearly 50 pc of Mumbai hotels and restaurants may be forced to close down temporarily depending on the LPG stock they currently hold. This will affect international tourists both, who are already here and those who will be visiting the country. Smaller and medium-sized eateries will be the first to be impacted, as they typically operate with limited reserves,” Shetty warned.

 

A housewife from Vasai, Ruma M. Bose today rushed to buy an induction stove and even repaired an old electric picnic stove to keep the domestic fires burning, just in case, though her society has a piped gas supply.

 

Retail dealers in Mumbai reported bookings by anxious domestic consumers after the refill period gap was extended to 25 days, though there are no confirmed instances of any black-marketing of LPG cylinders.

 

Thousands of distributors

Of India’s around 33.20 crore consumers, Maharashtra accounts for some 55-lakhs in domestic, commercial and industrial categories, with thousands of distributors dotting the state.

 

More than 75-80 pc of the hospitality sector depends on commercial LPG, and shortages or disruptions can deal a fatal blow. Mumbai alone has over 50,000 big and small eateries, and as per AHAR, 20 pc have shut shop for now, and upto 50 pc may soon follow suit.

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