PIL in HC to direct Delhi govt to ensure admissions to 44,000 children of EWS category in schools

NEW DELHI: A PIL came up before the Delhi High Court on Thursday seeking direction to the Delhi government to ensure admission of over 44,000 children, belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups, in various private schools here. A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh transferred the plea for hearing on Friday to another bench.

The petition by NGO, Justice For All, also sought direction to the director of education to initiate action against the private schools which have failed to admit the students in the allotted seats. The plea, filed through advocates Khagesh B Jha and Shikha Sharma Bagga, said the petition was concerned with those children who applied for admission in April 2021 for the session 2021-22 and nearly 50,000 are entitled for admission as per the actual enrolment in the schools.

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The petition said there are over 53,000 seats from the current year and additional 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 the economically weaker section (EWS) and disadvantaged group and only 21,000 have been admitted. 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 plea alleged that there is a blatant violation of the fundamental rights of over 50,000 children who are waiting for admission since April 2021 and they are victims of the government’s inaction to perform their duty.

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