Government for guidelines on students' safety during trips

The government has asked for framing guidelines for students' safety during excursion or study trips, Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said Wednesday.

As many as 24 students and a tour operator were swept away June 8 near Mandi town in Himachal Pradesh after water from a nearby state-run hydropower project dam was released without warning. The students were on a tour to Manali.

Smriti Irani said in the Lok Sabha that she had visited the site of the accident immediately after hearing of the tragedy and had offered to bear the cost of the operations.

She said that the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have been asked to frame guidelines for safety of students during such trips.

"The governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana also deputed their ministers and officers to the site of accident to monitor the rescue and search operations," the minister informed the house.