Kota: Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra Thursday attributed the Jhalawar school tragedy last month which claimed the lives of seven children and left 21 others injured to negligence of govt system.Dotasra met five children who are still undergoing treatment at a hospital in Jhalawar.Speaking to media, Dotasra said, “Seven of our children were murdered, died due to this system’s negligence and regardless of politics and party line, it is a serious question mark over all of us that our children are not safe in school even after 70 years of Independence. We should rise above party level and envisage the ways that such tragedy may not be repeated.”He said the issue would be raised for discussion in the Assembly.He also criticised chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma for not visiting Jhalawar to console the bereaved families while finding time to visit Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in Kota.Dotasara urged the CM to visit Jhalawar, questioning why he could not come when he could visit 100 temples after getting a helicopter. He lamented that the chief minister does not visit without a formal request (parchi), yet he can sit with Om Birla in Kota, enjoying tea and snacks, while not having time to listen to the grievances of the children’s families.He described the compensation of Rs 10 Lakh to the kin of the deceased children as inadequate. ‘Compensation is 100% inadequate, visiting and speaking the victims is not even in priority list of the government, compensation and package is too big a thing for this government (to consider upon)’. The Congress party provided financial support to the affected families, offering Rs 1 lakh to the families of the deceased children and Rs 10,000 each to the injured.Dotasara also remarked that politics is a social service and those who cannot do social service should quit politics.School education minister Madan Dilawar, responding to Dotasra’s statement, said if the Congress govt had properly maintained all the buildings during its time, this incident would not have occurred. He said the BJP govt has allocated funds for the repair of nearly 2,000 schools over a year-and-a-half. “The Congress government deliberately avoided any repairs or inspections of schools during its term. Congress was only interested in making money,” he said.Caption: PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasara and former minister Pramod Jain Bhaya in hospital with injured children in Jhalawar Thursday.
