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The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), on Tuesday, July 7, sharply criticised Tamil Nadu Industries Minister S Keerthana over her interaction with a student, accusing her of using government school children for social media and publicly humiliating a minor. The Minister was inspecting the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Thiruthangal, Virudhunagar district.
DMK Rajya Sabha MP Rajathi Salma also submitted a complaint to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), alleging that the Minister had violated the rights of a minor student by publicly ridiculing her and allowing videos of the interaction to be circulated without masking the child's identity.
Addressing reporters, DMK Women's Wing social media in-charge PM Yazhini alleged that the Minister's visit to the government school was aimed at creating content for social media rather than improving education.
Yazhini alleged that the Minister questioned students in English and remarked that "last-bench students are weak in English", causing embarrassment to students and attracting criticism. She said educational standards in government schools should be improved through administrative reforms and support for teachers instead of "publicity stunts" involving cameras inside classrooms.
Yazhini further alleged that the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government was increasingly conducting publicity-oriented inspections at schools and hospitals because it had "no achievements to showcase". She also accused ruling party functionaries of using educational institutions for political messaging and displaying images of Chief Minister Vijay before students.
The DMK leader urged the government to keep politics out of educational institutions and warned against using children as "political shields" for publicity. She said the public would not accept attempts to create a sense of inferiority among students for political gain.
Rajya Sabha MP Rajathi Salma, in her complaint to the NCPCR, alleged that the incident occurred on July 2 during the Minister's inspection of the school, where the Minister "publicly humiliated a minor female student" and videos of the interaction were widely circulated on social media without concealing the child's identity.
The MP alleged that the Minister "mock[ed] and ridicule[d] the child in front of others present at the inspection" instead of encouraging her "in keeping with the spirit of child-friendly pedagogy". The MP claimed that the child's hesitation could have been caused by the Minister's official status or the presence of cameras and alleged that the Minister had "misused her position of power" and used children "for mere social media traction".
She further alleged that the Minister's conduct violated India's obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the NCPCR's guidelines on reporting children in the media. It also cited provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, the Information Technology Act, 2000, and Articles 14, 15, 21 and 21A of the Constitution.
The viral circulation of the video had caused the child "severe mental and emotional distress, embarrassment, and humiliation", besides exposing her to "stigmatisation and potential bullying by peers" and causing an "irreparable breach of the child's right to privacy, dignity, and protection of identity,” the complaint stated.
During the press interaction, Yazhini also criticised the Minister for allegedly questioning the student's family background after the student answered earlier questions correctly. She contended that such questions could psychologically affect children from disadvantaged backgrounds and said a child's language skills should not be equated with intelligence or capability.
Referring to the Minister's alleged remark about last-bench students, Yazhini said no distinction should be made between front-bench and last-bench students and argued that the State's education system had moved away from such classifications.
She also claimed that while the previous DMK government had introduced initiatives to build students' confidence and improve learning outcomes, the present government was weakening that confidence through social media-driven publicity.
Calling for an end to filming reels inside schools and hospitals, Yazhini said, "Keep them out," referring to children, and urged the Minister to focus on her departmental responsibilities instead of creating social media content.