Nearly 360 students of Classes 9 to 12 at a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district locked themselves inside their hostel and threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike, demanding the removal of the school principal after he was accused of beating a Class 10 student who had complained about the quality of food served at the institution. The protest at the residential school in Bajranggarh, around seven kilometres from Guna, lasted for more than three hours, with students refusing to open the hostel gates despite repeated appeals from teachers. The standoff ended only after officials from the district administration and police reached the campus and assured the students that their grievances would be examined, while the allegations against principal HK Meena are now being investigated.
Complaint over food sparked row
According to officials, the protest followed allegations that Meena had assaulted a Class 10 student after the boy complained about substandard food being served at the school. The incident triggered anger among other students, who demanded that the principal be removed and locked themselves inside the hostel as their protest escalated.
An official familiar with the developments said around 360 students had joined the protest and threatened to fast until their demands were addressed. The students continued to remain behind the locked gates despite attempts by school staff to persuade them to come out, prompting the management to seek the intervention of the district administration.
Meena has denied the allegations against him. “Nothing happened. It was an internal matter,” the principal said, even as authorities began recording statements and examining the circumstances that led to the students’ protest.
Administration steps in
As the situation intensified, the school management informed Guna district collector Kishore Kumar Kanyal, who is also the ex-officio chairman of the institution. Naib tehsildar Narendra Singh Yadav and Bajranggarh police station in-charge Kripal Singh Parihar subsequently reached the school along with police personnel and began negotiations with the protesting students.
The students eventually opened the hostel gates around 4 am Monday after hours of persuasion and assurances from officials, Parihar said. They also agreed to eat after the administration intervened, bringing the immediate standoff to an end without any further escalation.
Kanyal acknowledged that the students were upset with the principal and had locked themselves inside the hostel as a form of protest. He said district officials had been sent to bring the situation under control and that the administration had conducted its own inquiry, whose findings would be submitted to the Navodaya authorities for further action.
Education Ministry team begins probe
The matter came to wider attention Wednesday when a team from the Union Ministry of Education reached the school to examine the allegations. A joint investigation team and regional officials associated with the Navodaya system also visited the institution, collected samples of the food being served and recorded statements from the Class 10 student and other pupils. The inquiry is expected to examine both the allegation that the student was assaulted and the complaints concerning food quality at the residential school. The authorities have not announced any action against the principal so far, and his denial will also form part of the investigation before the Navodaya administration takes a decision.
The unusual protest involving hundreds of students has put the focus on grievance-redressal mechanisms at the residential institution, particularly after pupils chose to lock themselves inside their hostel to press their demands. With separate inquiries now underway, the administration is expected to determine what led to the confrontation and whether the students’ complaints regarding food and the alleged assault require disciplinary action.