Twelve-year-old Nitish Kumar Rai was hurt in his right eye when his glass was shattered by the duster and pierced his eye. Bali was aiming for Nitish's classmate Kanhaiya, who was apparently being very noisy.

Harsh Vardhan has also urged the teaching community to ``treat their students with love and affection''.

``Any corporal punishment or any other misbehaviour with the students will not be tolerated at any cost,'' the minister added.

Similar instructions have been passed earlier also, but it has failed to check the growing incidents of classroom beating. Last year, a boy was paraded naked at the Government Boys Senior Secondary school in Maharana Pratap Bagh for playing outside instead of being inclass. The concerned teacher now works in another school. In another instance, three boys' heads were shaved by the teacher.

``There are countless examples of teacher brutality in classrooms,'' alleges Kusum Jain of the Parents' Forum For Meaningful Education. ``We just get to know of the few extreme cases. But, everyday there are students who are being victimised by teachers, particularly in government schools.''

Jain's organisation is already fighting a number of such cases in court. While most teachers involved in such incidents are suspended, there is very little follow-up action. Jain alleges that because ``they are allowed to get away virtually scot-free'' the incidents have increased.