Chandigarh, July 30: Prince’s bravery in surviving 50 hours in a pit with space enough to hold little more than his 6-year body has fetched his family government munificence by way of Rs 4 lakh and his village Rs 20 lakh, but not a probe to find out why the well had not been covered properly.

Prince stepped on the sandbag placed over the well and it gave in, sending him hurtling into a 60-foot black hole. The accident would not have occurred ? and the famous rescue by the army would not have been necessary ? had the pit’s mouth been covered with something stronger than a sandbag.

“We don’t intend to probe the incident. No action is planned and no action is called for,” a senior government official said.“The bore well was not dug by any individual as the villagers had pooled in money for a tube well for drinking water. It is common for villagers to dig bore wells and no permission is needed,” the officer remarked. According to the chief hydrologist of the agriculture department, R.C. Gupta, apart from areas notified by the Central Ground Water Authority, no permission is required to dig tube wells. “So there is no scope for any action,” he said.

It means the government does not think it important to prevent a recurrence, though Prince’s accident was a freak one, preferring instead to bask in the national attention the incident has brought.

Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda visited Haldari village late this afternoon and announced free education for Prince. He met the boy at his residence and enquired after his health from his parents.

Hooda said Rs 20 lakh had been sanctioned to give the village a facelift. He announced cash awards for those who had helped save the life of Prince, describing the boy as the “brave child of Haryana”.

The villagers gathered at the local gurdwara to offer prayers felicitating the army personnel and others who played a part in the rescue.

Brigadier Joginder Singh Mann, under whose supervision the rescue effort was undertaken, handed a certificate stating that the army would provide Prince a job on completion of his studies.

“We did what was expected of us as soon as we were informed by the district administration that a child had fallen into a bore well. We received full support from everyone in our endeavour to save Prince,” Mann said.