The Orissa High Court on Friday granted the State Government 10 days time to file its counter affidavit to the PILs seeking enquiry into the death of seven children due to collapse of a wall of an anganwadi centre at Nelia in Nayagarh district recently.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice V Gopalagowda and Justice SK Mishra had earlier issued notices to the State Government, including secretaries of Women and Child Development Department and School and Mass Education Department along with collector of Nayagarh and CDPO, Ranapur block, asking them to file counter affidavits within a week.
As the PILs, filed by Committee for Legal Aid to Poor (CLAP) and human rights activist Prabir Das came up for hearing on Friday, Advocate General (AG) sought more time for filing of the affidavits. The AG submitted that Chief Minister has reviewed the matter and issued necessary directions for preventing any further occurrences of such nature.
Alleging that the seven children had lost their lives due to the negligent action of the authorities concerned, the petitioners had sought compensation of ` 10 lakh each to the bereaved families. They have also sought directions to the Government to take a quick review of the condition of the buildings and shelters, which house the anganwadi centres, and undertake maintenance of such buildings.
The CLAP in its petition prayed for institution of proper mechanism under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme to ensure safety of children and make the officials accountable for lapses of any kind.
It also sought constitution of a joint task force of the Government and civil society representatives to review the situation and chalk out plans for infrastructure development of anganwadi centres.
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