Gokul Vannan By

MADURAI: A Dalit woman was allegedly forced to clean a tank filled with garbage when she went to the Melur Government Girl’s Higher Secondary School seeking admission for her daughter in the science stream of Class XI. While school principal Daisy Nirmala Rani claimed that daily wager Muthupillai had only asked for a job and was paid `250 for clearing the garbage, the woman’s daughter said her mother was pressured to do the work.

Some senior teachers in the school said the principal had asked them to admit the 16-year-old girl, who passed out of Al Ammen High School, Melur, with overall 50 per cent marks in Class X, in the science stream and told them that her mother would clean the tank.

Since it was past 4 pm when the admission process was over on July 23, the woman promised to come later to clean the tank. On July 28, when the principal was at the campus to shoot a group picture, she noticed the four feet deep, six feet long and three feet wide tank brimming with garbage and asked the teacher to call Muthupillai immediately.

The teacher spoke to Muthupillai after getting her phone number from her daughter. “Muthupillai came to the school around 4 pm and cleaned the garbage tank, which took nearly two hours. I have been teaching in this school for many years, but I have never witnessed such a degrading incident on the campus,” said a senior teacher.

When Chief Education Officer J Angelo Eradiya Swami was asked about the incident, he said: “The principal claimed the woman asked for the job explaining her family situation and so was asked to clean the tank. I have told the principal not to engage in such practices in the future. As I received information that there was groupism in the school, I conducted a detailed inquiry.”