The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has directed the state general education department to urgently decide whether 48.8 sq m of land belonging to Kalampoor Government Upper Primary School can be used as an access road for Scheduled Caste families living in Pallikoodam Mala, Piravom municipality’s ward 21.
The directive was issued by commission chairperson Justice Alexander Thomas on Saturday after the panel considered a complaint concerning the lack of usable road access to the families’ homes. The commission asked the general education department secretary to intervene and take an appropriate decision on the municipality’s request.
The proposed pathway has already received recommendations from the Kerala State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the senior citizens commission. According to the SHRC, copies of those orders were submitted by complainant M E Gopinathan. The commission noted that the education department had not challenged the earlier directions in court.
Piravom municipality submitted a request to the general education department on July 21 seeking permission to use part of the school’s land as a public pathway. The municipality said it could proceed with further action only after receiving approval from the government department that controls the school property.
The issue concerns an approximately eight-foot-wide stretch behind the school. Municipal officials inspected and measured the route following a directive from the district collector. The families are currently using an unusable stretch of land to reach their homes, according to the report considered by the commission.
Gopinathan told the commission that government approval was necessary to establish the access route while ensuring that the pathway did not interfere with the school’s functioning. The proposed land transfer or use therefore involves two public needs: providing basic access to households and protecting the operational requirements of an educational institution.
The access problem has also had consequences for the affected families’ housing security. Gopinathan said several households had been forced to leave their homes and move into rented accommodation because they lacked proper road access. The SHRC’s direction places the next decision with the general education department, while the municipality’s request remains pending government approval.
The commission has asked the department to decide on the matter without delay. Further action at the local level will depend on that decision and on the conditions attached to any permission for using the school land as a public pathway.
