Nagpur: 30th August, a day like any other when Kshitij sent his tiny toddler to his Bachpan Play School, Ramna Maroti Nagar branch.
” My champ is a bright and active kid, I wanted the best for him so I selected this play school with hefty fees.”
11 a.m. Kshitij’s wife gets a call that her son is ‘ slightly injured and is crying so she should take him home.’
Gold Rate
20 May 2025
Kshitij and she rush to the school and seeing how desperately the child is still crying after an hour of the ‘accident’ they take him to a Pediatrician and then later to his own Family Doctor. Both doctors have opined that he needs to be taken to an orthopedic surgeon since his index finger tip is crushed and he will lose the finger permanently unless it is fixed by operation.
Since some time has passed and wound is not fresh, Dr Shingade the pediatric orthopedic surgeon calls a plastic surgeon to assist. They clean the finger and carry out the delicate operation and then bandage the hand till the arm as a precaution that the child doesn’t move it around and aggravate the wound. They have fixed a wire surgically to hold the finger tip together which was almost completely asundered.
HOW DID THIS TERRIBLE ACCIDENT HAPPEN?
The little boy states tearfully again and again that ” my finger was in the door…she banged the door!”
It appears that the school ayas – and teachers too? – have a habit of locking up errant kids in the class or even toilet! They also scare us with cockroaches in the toilet, reports a girl who is with the same play school.
When on 30th August, the ayah tried to lock this boy he must have resisted with panic stricken might and thus his finger got caught in the door which seems to have been harshly closed.
Where the school erred??
Physical punishment of any sort is strictly prohibited by law.
You may not beat a child, slap him, wring his ears …and you certainly cannot lock him up! Such instances can scar a child’s psyche permanently. But the school was doing just that. And with kids who were at a really young age of 2 to 3 years…just out of diapers!
” We send our babies to such places with the assurance that their safety and well being will be sacrosanct, and then this happens…” says Kshitij tearfully.
Another practised a well known school should follow:
Any informed educated person knows that for physical trauma a patient must be immediately taken to an orthopaedic surgeon or hospital.
The one hour after the accident is the Golden Hour when broken bones, ligaments or tissues can be fixed properly. Thereafter, any delay is hazardous.
Many ‘ordinary, NMC run schools’ are attached to some such orthopaedic surgeon. If a child falls, breaks his leg or hand or has an injury he is attended to immediately. The school bears the Doctor’s fees which in most cases is minimal as per their agreement. For the case of trauma Pediatrician is wrong choice!
But the fancy, and most pricey schools of Nagpur do not seem to adhere to this humanitarian practice.
They pass the hurt/ sick child to his parents and then wash their hands of the whole matter – though it happens in their premises, under their watch!
Later, if a parent has the audacity to ask for reimbursement of medical expenses they raise their hands and Express inability to pay!
Kshitij Ingle has spent Rs. 1.25 lakhs till now. Bachpan management isn’t willing to reimburse.
The Director and Principal did visit the patient 2 days later but are not forthcoming with their offer. Its should be noted that the Bachpan Director went to kid’s house, not at the appointed hour when parents would be present, but on the earlier day when only grandfather was present and offered 50% compensation max.
In fact, the parents have been warned.
” Try to cause us trouble and we will take care of you! We have a strong association of school Promoters and Directors pan India and we know how to deal with such ‘threats’.
Are these educational institutes or a school Mafia?!
If they have an association should it not be framing rules and guidelines for safety of their wards and re assuring parents that their precious children are in safe, loving hands???
Rather than hands that push doors and greviously hurt them?
Parents, be careful, be very careful where you send your kids to study! And in case of such tragedies have each other’s backs. Who knows it could be your kid tomorrow?
…Sunita Mudaliar – Executive Editor
