Safety of kids at schools: A conundrum

Schools are indeed becoming a death trap for children now-a-days. Kids do die at crèche, kindergartens and schools too. My recent memory goes back to yercaud fire accident where nearly 80 students were dead, could not stop the tears after seeing that horrific picture. PSBB is understood to be one of those elite schools in the city to which admission is considered to be the admission to Harvard for example. In India we are always reactive instead of proactive. Coming back to the question of safety again, why there was no supervision while this nine year old kid was practicing swimming. There was a question that a coach can handle only 5 students at a time. What was the situation in this case then was he handling more than he could or did he fail to do his job. It is told that he was handling around 26 kids at that time. PSBB must be sealed for this reason. Or govt. must take over the administration of the school a fitting lesson to all those careless school administrators. Did that mean PSBB did not have enough funds to employ the required swimming coaches when there is a need? All the safety rules are there in papers but when it comes to implementation it is indeed shoddy. Is it too much to expect to be alert through which we can save lives of kids. If safeguarding the kids is becoming a difficult task for schools such as these then government must take over the administration and also and it must be fined heavily and be made to pay the compensation to the family of the child. I know courts have a different methodology to calculate the compensation. When middle class rose to cash in on the opportunities available in the market with respect to abundant jobs available and naturally mother and father have to be necessarily office goers. Recently at a crèche in Andhra Pradesh a baby died because the chapatti she swallowed was stuck in her throat, what a tragedy. It’s high time that some thing concrete has to be done about this.

Proposed Traffic rules – Zero application of common sense

There is a common perception that we Indians are really good at drafting laws/proposals and many other things which we do on paper.  And we are ONLY good at doing this on paper, definitely not in executing them. Colonial masters have taught us this skill really well when we were enslaved. While there is an overall agreement that our roads are now-a-days becoming death traps due to violations of traffic rules. At the end of the day to whom the task of enforcing this law is given. Many argue that these stricter rules would only lead to encouragement of traffic inspectors who strive from the illegal gratification they normally demand when a motorist is caught when his pants are down. What can a law simply do if the infrastructure is not there, I am talking everything from traffic signals, accessible roads, moral officers etc., but I am not asking for high speed auto bahns.

Its max 10,000 for drunken driving and there seems to be different criteria based on the level of alcohol intake.

Alcohol per 100ml of Blood	Offence	Max punishment
30mg	No	NA
30-60mg	Yes	6 months imprisonment &/ Rs 2000
60-150mg	Yes	1 Year &/ Rs 4000
If the above is repeated within three years	Yes	3 Years &/ 8000
Above 150mg	Yes	2years &/ Rs 5000
If the above is repeated within three years	Yes	4 years &/ Rs 10000 and license cancellation

When I see these new specifications I am sure that the sales of the electronic meters which are used to measure these levels would go high and the companies who promote these devices are going to make money.

For the sake of argument if we agree that the high speeding motorists deserve penalties to a greater extent, because they endanger a human life, but should it be a max of 10 years when the conviction of a corrupted public servant under Prevention of Corruption Act sec:7 it is only 5 years. Now our question can be who is more dangerous to the society? Is it the corrupted government official or high speeding motorist? It would be ludicrous to say that the corrupted government officials do not endanger the people and the society.

I am imagining the situation when somebody is caught violating the rules and the law enforcement officer demands illegal gratification but law does not pounce up on him but the motorist. Does it take to be a Mamta bannergi’s nephew to get an exception from these new draconian rules?

For most of the laws enacted in India it starts with “this law applies to the whole of India except the state of J&K” (Art: 370 syndrome). Will this law target only urban areas of the country or to the whole of the country? How this will be enforced in rural areas, who will check whether a motorist is drunk in a remote area. There are also accidents due to bad roads and no light in highways and driving is impossible, should the state be held accountable, for sure people activism must increase to answer this question.

Election commission of India asserts that due to its voter education program it could increase the voter turnout. Allocation of budget for this cause to run campaigns on educating the motorists about safety driving could be one positive step. It’s important to ensure that the allocated funds are used for intended purpose. Once these rules have come in force we need to wait and see whether it will act as a deterrent.

 There is surely going to be a huge increase in aspirants for the job of traffic police officers, as it provides an enormous opportunity to earn name, fame and not to mention illegal gratification.