The Andhra Pradesh government has banned corporal punishment in all private and government schools, making it mandatory for them to abide by the child rights enshrined in the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
The government decision follows a steep rise in instances of corporal punishment meted out to children in educational institutions.
The Hyderabad Police in 2012 recorded 600 cases of corporal punishment, but the figure has already crossed 800 this year, with one more month to go.