India (Commonwealth Union)_ The Telangana High Court took up a case on its own about the lack of a state-run school for children with autism and the government’s negligence to offer treatment to those affected. The court took up the matter following a September 19 media report titled “Government has no school for kids with autism”.
According to the study, the government has not built even a single school for kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although some private schools offer special education to children with disabilities, it is expensive and costs nearly INR 300,000 annually, an amount that many families cannot afford. Parents are also unhappy with the quality of education provided by private schools. Moreover, these schools require a huge open space, greenery, and safe playgrounds, which the privately-run schools lacked.
The media report further stated that the mothers of these autistic children were abused and assaulted by their family members for delivering a disabled child. The PIL committee of the Telangana High Court, chaired by Justice Abhinan Kumar Shavili, reviewed the report. In his opinion, it was time for the government to initiate building schools for children with autism and other difficulties. In light of the rise in the number of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the cost issues related to caring for these children, Justice Shavili deemed it necessary to launch government-run schools to alleviate the load on parents, especially those from disadvantaged families.
The Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan approved the PIL committee’s suggestion to consider the media report as a suo motu PIL. The High Court registrar registered it as a self-initiated PIL at his command. The special chief secretary, director and commissioner of the department for women and child welfare, as well as the Telangana State Commission for Child Rights were named as respondents. The division bench, consisting of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy, will hear this suo motu PIL.
Image credit: 1 thehindu.com, 2 udan.org, 3 globalgiving.org
