Delhi High Court Issues Directions For Operation & Maintenance Of Special Schools, Hostels For Visually Impaired Children

The Delhi High Court has issued a slew of directions to the Delhi Government and its Directorate of Education (DoE) to ensure the smooth functioning, operation and maintenance of seven special schools and hostels in the national capital for visually impaired children.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed that the DoE shall be responsible for providing hostel facilities to all the students admitted to the Special Schools by ensuring timely and quality food, uniform, clothes, recreation facilities and all facilities required for meeting daily needs of the students.

“DoE, GNCTD shall continue to operate and maintain these seven (7) Schools as Special Schools as per the mandate of Section 31 of the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act, (RPWD) 2016,” the court said.

Section 31 of the RPWD Act states that all educational institutions shall provide or cause to be provided amanuensis to blind students and students with low vision.

The court also directed the DoE to ensure, within eight weeks, that a Superintendent for each Hostel, regular cooks and sanitation staff apart from caretaker and security guards are deployed to ensure regular and timely availability of food and other facilities continue without interruption.

It further directed the DoE to ensure the timely availability of braille books, assistive devices and other reading materials to each of the students studying in the special schools.

“DoE, GNCTD shall ensure that the existing facilities at the Schools and Hostels are maintained without any curtailment and in fact efforts are made for enhancing the facilities and infrastructure at these Schools and Hostels, so that these facilities can become a model for the rest of the country to follow,” the court said.

It added: “DoE, GNCTD is directed to ensure that the living conditions of the students in the Hostels are upgraded and maintained so as to ensure that the lapses reported by the Court Commissioners are not repeated.”

The bench further directed the DoE to make an assessment of the steps proposed to be taken by it in respect of the hostels and take a decision before February 28, so that necessary budgetary allocations can be made by it for the next financial year 2024-25

The court passed the directions while dealing with a plea moved by an NGO, the National Federation of the Blind, in 2018, concerning the issue of facilities for blind children in the hostels.

The court recorded its appreciation for the steps taken by the Delhi Government in the matter to comply with its responsibilities under Section 31 of the Right of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

“The court is confident that if GNCTD prioritizes the compliance of the aforesaid directions, the Special Schools and the Hostel facilities would become a model for other States to follow,” the court added.

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. S. K. Rungta, Senior Advocate

Counsel for Respondents: Mrs. Avnish Ahlawat, Standing Counsel for GNCTD with Mr. N. K. Singh and Mr. Mohnish Sehrawat, Advocates for GNCTD; Mr. Yeeshu Jain, ASC with Ms. Manisha and Mr. Hitanshu Mishra, Advocates for R-1 to R-3; Ms. Laavanya Kaushik and Ms. Aliza Alam, Local Commissioners; Mr. Santosh Kumar Tripathi, Standing Counsel for GNCTD with Mr. Arun Panwar, Mr. Pradyumn Rao, Mr. Utkarsh Singh, Mr. Kartik Sharma, Mr. Prashansa Sharma, Mr. Rishabh Srivastava and Ms. Nikita Vir, Advocates for R-5

Title: NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND v. GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI AND ORS.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 99