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KOLKATA, INDIA, February 8, 2004: Calcutta’s High Court has passed a law banning any kind of caning of children in all state-run schools in West Bengal. This report also examines how five other capital cities in India are handling the issue of caning in schools. In Hyderabad, caning has been prohibited since 2002 after the Andhra Pradesh government examined a series of incidents where corporal punishment was carried to the extreme. United Teachers’ Federation secretary, N. Narayana says, “The ban is not being implemented strictly. Some teachers, especially in the villages, resort to this practise.” Chandigarh has had a law in place prohibiting corporal punishment since the 1990’s. A Delhi high court judge has “directed the state government to ensure a ban on physical punishment of school students.” The Karnataka government has verbally told state-run schools that they must not resort to corporal punishment. Individual boards in Bangalore have pressed the issue ever since a young girl died in 2003 after being told by her teacher to run around the school ground till she collapsed. S.B. Mandlik, district education officer of Ahmedabad says, “Under the grant-in-aid code 1964, any kind of physical punishment is banned in private as well as government schools. This includes caning or even tapping on the head.” Back in Kolkata the ban has been welcomed by most students, teachers, and guardians.

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