New Delhi, June 11 -- The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday alleged that the BJP-led Delhi government's ordinance on regulating fee hikes is in favour of private schools and decried it as an attempt to "fool" parents.
The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved an ordinance on regulating fee structure in private schools that empowers the city government to impose fines of up to Rs 10 lakh on them and even take away their right to propose fee revision if they violate norms.
Delhi's Education minister Ashish Sood said that the cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta approved the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Ordinance, 2025. The ordinance will be sent for presidential assent through the Lieutenant Governor.
Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that in order to favour private schools, the government brought the ordinance through the backdoor. Calling it an "open" and "blatant" surrender of governance, he said that the law is drafted entirely in favour of school owners.
"Ever since the BJP formed a government in Delhi, the first session of private schools began with a wave of fee hikes. Parents were left with no choice; they were forced to pay the increased amount," he said.
Explaining earlier rules for revising fees, he said it was mandatory for schools to get prior approval from the Directorate of Education.
"Only after receiving this approval could the fee hike be implemented. But starting from April 1, private schools arbitrarily increased their fees without seeking any such approval, and the government failed to take any action.
"No school was instructed by the government to roll back the hike or refund the extra fees collected from parents," he claimed.
The former Delhi minister claimed that the government passed it in the Cabinet without consulting anyone.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.