It may be noted that on Wednesday, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development directed colleges and other educational institutions across the country not to insist on payment of fees till the ongoing nationwide lockdown is lifted.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday said that many schools in the national capital are taking fees arbitrarily, and charging transportation fees even when schools are closed due to the lockdown, and urged them to refrain from doing so.
"It has come to my notice that many schools are taking fees arbitrarily and charging transportation fees even when schools are closed. Private schools should not stoop to this level. Be it private or government schools, they cannot hike fees," Manish Sisodia said.
"All private schools in Delhi are operated by trusts and their basic mandate is to serve the society. They cannot harass parents like this. The government has decided not to allow any private school to hike fees without taking prior approval from the government. The rule is applicable for all schools irrespective of the fact if the school is built on government or private land," he added,
Sisodia made these comments at a press conference stating that .the government has received multiple complaints from parents about schools revising fee structure and also levying changes like transport fee without taking prior approval from the government. He made it clear that schools cannot levy charges like transport fees without taking government's approval.
This comes a day after the Delhi High Court registry refused urgent listing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought directions to schools in the national capital not to charge school fees from students for a period from April 2020 till the school becomes operational.
The PIL was submitted before the court on Thursday, but the Registry refused to list the matter saying that there's no urgency.
Advocate Amit Sahni, the petitioner, sought urgent hearing of the matter stating that lakhs of parents are facing financial problems due to lockdown and Health Emergency in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.
The urgency of the matter was mentioned before the Registrar, who did not find it sufficiently urgent to list before the Bench. A letter explaining the urgency was then submitted but the Registry replied that “your request for urgent listing has been rejected.”
It may be noted that on Wednesday, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development directed colleges and other educational institutions across the country not to insist on payment of fees till the ongoing nationwide lockdown is lifted.
The ministry issued guidelines to the institutions across the country and asked them to strictly comply with it.
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 "Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia")
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