HC seeks Delhi govt stand on plea for school admission of 44,000 EWS category children

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Monday sought the Delhi government's "concise and crisp" response on a petition to ensure admission of over 44,000 children, belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups, in various private schools here.

A bench headed by Justices Rajiv Shakdher and Talwant Singh issued notice on the public interest litigation by NGO, 'Justice For All', and asked Delhi government counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi to file the reply.

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“File a concise and crisp reply (on) what is your understanding of Right to Education Act, the position of number of seats in the previous year, applications made and number of admissions,” the court said as it listed the case for further hearing on April 26.

The plea, filed through advocates Khagesh B Jha and Shikha Sharma Bagga, alleged that there was a blatant violation of the fundamental rights of thousands of children who are waiting for admission since April 2021 on account of the government's inaction in performing their duty.

The petition said although there are over 53,000 seats from the current year and addition 24,000 seats have to be carried forward from the last academic session, that is, a total of 77,000 seats for children belonging to Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and disadvantaged group, only 21,000 children have been admitted.

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It alleged that the Director of Education delayed the process on their own and is now refusing the admission on the grounds of delay in admission which is the duty of the appropriate government. The petitioner NGO has sought a direction to the Director of Education to initiate action against the private schools which have failed to admit the students on the allotted seats.