A division bench of justices VM Kanade and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi, which was hearing a public interest litigation filed by social activist Swati Patil, gave three weeks to the government to take a decision.
The Bombay High Court on Friday once again told the state government to decide on a deadline by when it would be implementing its own resolution to bring down weight of children's school bags.
A division bench of justices VM Kanade and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi, which was hearing a public interest litigation filed by social activist Swati Patil, gave three weeks to the government to take a decision.
The bench observed, "This is a serious issue. The government has to take a decision soon. Have you (government) issued instruction to the schools about the resolution?"
Soon after the petition was filed, the government had appointed a committee which had submitted several recommendations. It had also noted that children are carrying school bags 20-30% heavier than what they should be as per age, because of which around 60% students below the age of 10 suffer from orthopaedic as well as stress-induced ailments.
The committee had recommended that one book should be used for three months for each subject, and also that weight of textbooks can be reduced by using light paper and avoiding hardcover. Further, it also suggested use of e-classroom, audio-visual sessions and other technological means to teach.
The government had informed the court that the committee report and the government resolution was only recommendatory in nature. As per the resolution, schools and parents will have to play a major role in ensuring reduction in weight.
Patil has argued that the shifting of onus by the state government is not correct and that the resolution does not mention the action that would be taken against those schools who do not follow the steps suggested in the resolution.
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