Maharashtra: FIR against private school in Bhiwandi for defying closure order

THANE: An FIR has been registered against an illegal private school in Bhiwandi city in Thane district of Maharashtra for defying the closure order of the education department, the police said on Saturday.

According to education department officials, Thane district has 27 secondary schools and 33 primary ones, which are unauthorised. A case has been registered under section 188 (disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code against the school management in Bhiwandi on the complaint of the district education department, an official said.

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The secondary school, which opened in April 2023, was served a notice by the zilla parishad's education department declaring it illegal and asking it to close down, but the management continued activities, as per the FIR. No arrest is made so far. Zilla parishad education officer (secondary) Lalita Dahitule said that 27 secondary schools in Thane district are unauthorised.

"Of them, 17 have given undertaking and the rest are still operational," she said. Education officer (primary) Bhausaheb Karekar said the number of unauthorised primary schools in Thane district is 33. Thane zilla parishad PRO said out of a total of 4,816 schools being monitored by authorities, 3,192 are primary schools. The total strength of students in all these schools is 14,18,370.