The Delhi government will take over around 449 private schools, which have been served show-cause notices for allegedly charging extra fee from parents, only as the “last resort” if they do not roll back their decision, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal clarified here on Friday.
‘Don’t force our hand’
Addressing a press conference, his first in nearly four months, Mr. Kejriwal said the government did not intend to “interfere” in the schools’ administration, but was certainly in favour of “disciplining” them if needed.
“If private schools do not implement the recommendations of the judiciary, the need to discipline them will certainly arise. The government wants to send out a clear message to their managements and hopes they will comply with the directives they are supposed to; we are requesting them not to force our hand,” the Chief Minister declared.
The schools are among the ones identified by a committee headed by Justice Anil Dev Singh as having overcharged parents on the pretext of implementing recommendations of the Sixth Pay commission. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who holds the Education portfolio and was also present, said the show-cause notices were served four days ago with a deadline to respond within two weeks.
“The schools will not be allowed to loot students like they used to do under previous governments due to political collusion. Some of them are doing good work. But if they don’t implement the recommendations of the panel’s report then we will take them over as last resort,” Mr. Kejriwal said. The panel, formed last year, had scrutinised 1,108 private unaided schools.
Surplus amounts
Mr. Kejriwal said among the schools that have not rolled back the fee hike, one had a surplus of ₹15 crore while another had ₹5 crore surplus. “I hope we don’t have to take over. Today, we intend to send out a message to the managements of those schools to implement the recommendations,” he added.
Mr. Sisodia said the government was keeping a watch on everything and will verify cases where schools have claimed to have returned fees.
