Telangana, Andhra Pradesh rapped on school fee issue

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad School Parents’ Association said on Tuesday that Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur has strongly criticised the TS and AP governments for not taking concrete measures regarding the school fee issue for the last six years which he felt was nothing but aiding private schools.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Thakur and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar on Monday heard the special leave petition of the erstwhile AP government on GO 91 pertaining to the district fee regulatory commission.

According to the association, the Bench remarked that the government had powers under Section 7 of the Capitation Fees Act to notify fees recommended by DFRC, which was not mentioned in the GO.

The High Court had earlier quashed the government’s decision citing the same and it was endorsed by the SC. “The court felt the government should have specifically mentioned about notifying the DFRC recommendations instead of just mentioning that DFRC would finalise the fees. Even if DFRC finalises the fees, accountability and seriousness will only come if the government issued a notification based on fee panel recommendations,” said association counsel Nitin Mishra.

He said that the bench was critical of the state for filing a petition in the SC and not taking concrete actions for the last six years on the pretext of the case being heard.

“The Bench asked the government what it had done for six years while schools continued to raise fees, and it expressed surprise that the government did not even deem it fit to collect fee structures of private schools and check if they were justified,” said the parents body.

HSPA members Aravinda Jata, Ashish Naredi, Seema Agarwal and M. Siva called upon the state government to act swiftly and take steps to constitute DFRCs.

“The SC felt it was the moral duty of the government to regulate school fees and we hope the government initiates steps in this regard,” they said.