Criminal negligence in maintaining school, EPS slams ruling DMK after student's death

CHENNAI: Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday blamed the DMK government for the death of a government school student in Tiruvallur district, alleging criminal negligence in maintaining school infrastructure.

In a statement, Palaniswami said the incident, in which a student was crushed to death after a parapet wall collapsed while the child was having lunch at the government high school in Kondapuram village, was deeply shocking and heartbreaking. He alleged that the tragedy was the direct result of the State government's failure to ensure the structural safety of government school buildings.

"This tragic incident has occurred solely due to the irresponsibility of the DMK government in maintaining the safety of school infrastructure," he said. He added that the death had raised serious questions about whether the Minister in charge of School Education was paying adequate attention to departmental responsibilities.

The AIADMK general secretary urged the government to immediately undertake repairs and comprehensive structural safety audits of all government school buildings across Tamil Nadu. He said urgent preventive measures were necessary to ensure that no more innocent lives were lost due to negligence.

He further demanded accountability from the government and called for swift action to address the lapses that led to the fatal incident, stating that student safety must be treated as a top priority.