If irregularities found in EWS admission, parents can directly approach me: Delhi Education minister

NEW DELHI: Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood on Monday said parents can directly file complaints with him if any irregularities are found in Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota admissions. According to an official statement, the document verification process for EWS admissions is currently underway.

As of now, 6,192 documents have been verified for students selected through the draw of lots conducted on March 5.

The process is being carried out across designated verification centres, it said. "If parents face any irregularities or lack of transparency during the verification process, they can file a complaint directly with me or visit my office to register their grievances," Sood said.

44,045 children selected for EWS admissions

The minister emphasised that under the leadership of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, the Education Department is working in a mission-driven manner to ensure transparency in the admission process. He said that out of more than 2 lakh applications, a total of 44,045 children's names were drawn through a computerised lottery for nursery, KG, and Class 1 admissions under the EWS quota.

The statement mentioned that document verification for these students has been ongoing across 29 zones under the Directorate of Education since March 6. From March 6 to 10 parents of 7,042 children have visited the designated verification centres, it read.

Among them, 4,878 children have been issued admission tokens for private schools in Delhi and 1,291 parents received notices due to incomplete documentation, it stated. Despite their names being selected in the lottery, four children's applications were rejected due to discrepancies in their required documents over the past four days, the statement mentioned.

Transparent and fair admission process

Sood urged parents to remain vigilant and emphasised that if anyone demands money in exchange for securing admission in private schools under the EWS quota, parents should immediately report the matter to his office.

Providing further details, the statement stated that on March 7, a total of 2,431 parents visited the designated centres, with documents of 2,108 children successfully verified. Following this, 1,698 children were issued admission tokens, while 410 parents were asked to complete their documentation, it said.

On March 8, document verification took place across three zones--7, 14, and 22 where 64 students underwent verification.

All 64 students' documents were successfully verified, resulting in 43 admission tokens being issued, while 21 students were asked to complete their paperwork, it stated. Similarly, on March 10, as many as 3,354 parents visited verification centres across the 29 zones. Out of these, 2,924 children's documents were verified, and 2,303 children were issued admission tokens.

Notices were given to 600 parents due to incomplete documentation, while two applications were rejected due to discrepancies, it added. Sood reaffirmed that the Delhi Government's priority is to ensure that no underprivileged or deserving child is denied their right to education, it added.