Patna: Union minister of state for human resource development Upendra Kushwaha on Friday warned of strict action if lapses on the part of Holy Cross International School emerge in the molestation incident of an eight-year-old student.

"We are closely watching the case of the school where an unwanted incident has taken place and investigation is being carried out by the police and state education department. If the role of school management would be found wanting then I will ensure that their CBSE affiliation is scrapped," Kushwaha told reporters.

He said he would wait for the final report before reaching any conclusion.

He said following the murder of 7-year-old Pradyuman Thakur in Gurgaon's Ryan International School in September this year, the CBSE has gone tough on the guidelines schools need to follow with regard to security and safety.

"If the guidelines are not being followed it is surely a serious matter but our department and the CBSE keep a close eye on such schools and action is taken," Kushwaha said. "Such an incident is also related to law and order and I believe it is the duty of the state government to look after it. If the matter is related to CBSE then we deal it with strictly. However, at the same time, the state government must act if the matter is related to law and order. I am sure that state must be looking into it the way we do."

When it was pointed out that private schools with CBSE affiliation are mushrooming, Kushwaha said: "Such things used to happen earlier but these days it does not. Earlier schools used to get the affiliation by submitting fake papers but now it's very strict. It is not possible for any school to get affiliation on false papers."