Let students carry water bottles to schools: Bombay High Court

The Bombay high court on Thursday asked the government of Maharashtra not to insist on educational institutions to direct students to not carry water bottles even if water coolers have been installed there. The court has also sought compliance report from government to ensure that the Government Resolution (GR) issued to reduce weight of school bags is implemented.

The division bench of Justice A.S. Oka and Justice P.D. Naik was hearing public interest litigation by activist Swati Patil that sought court’s directions to government to take steps to reduce weight of schoolbags. On court’s directions the state has issued a GR with details of steps to be taken by the schools to reduce schoolbag weight.

“It should not happen that children bear the brunt of a fight between parents and schools. The GR should be implemented scrupulously but in a phased manner,” observed the bench when it was informed that in some places there is dispute between school management and parents because water coolers have been installed in school but still parents want their children to carry water bottles. The bench observed that parents might still insist that their children carry water bottles fearing their child may not get pure drinking water. The GR issued by the government last year had asked schools to install water coolers and ask students not to carry water bottles so that this reduced the weight of the bags.