Rourkela: The district welfare officer (DWO) of Sundargarh has issued showcause notices to four officials of an ashram school following the drowning of a 10-year-old student in a nearby pond.
A Class IV student drowned on Wednesday while bathing in the pond with other hostel inmates due to water shortage following a power outage caused by a thunderstorm. His body was recovered the following day, triggering protests from locals and family members.
While 29 students returned safely, the victim’s absence was noticed only during breakfast by his elder brother, a Class V student at the same school.
The school authorities filed a missing person’s complaint at Kinjrikela police station. Locals discovered the body floating in the pond on Thursday, following which police and fire brigade personnel retrieved it.
Angry villagers from Sagjore initially prevented police from conducting post-mortem, demanding compensation and action against school authorities. The situation was resolved after officials announced a compensation package of Rs 7 lakh — Rs 2 lakh from the education department, Rs 4 lakh for the drowning case, and Rs 1 lakh from school teachers.
DWO Bhagirathi Patel has served showcause notices to welfare extension officer Eva Shenhalata Zuzu, headmaster Bhagwaneswar Dhiria, assistant hostel superintendent Debasis Das, and cook-cum-attendant Susanta Naik. “The officials have been given three days to respond to the notices regarding their negligence in this unfortunate incident,” Patel told reporters.
The school has a total of 209 students, with 181 residing in the hostel.