Delhi Assembly debates school fee regulation bill, AAP demands review by select committee

Hindustan Times

a day ago

A day after the Delhi government introduced the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, which seeks to regulate private school fee revisions in the capital, the Assembly witnessed heated debate on the legislation on Tuesday, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demanding that the bill be sent to a select committee for review. Chief minister Rekha Gupta with her cabinet colleague and law minister Ashish Sood at the Delhi assembly on Tuesday. (HT Photo)
Education minister Ashish Sood said the bill aims to establish a robust institutional mechanism to ensure transparency and accountability in the regulation of school fees.
'The proposed framework involves participation from all stakeholders — parents, teachers, and school management. The government is open to discussions on the provisions,' he said.
BJP MLA Satish Upadhyay (Malviya Nagar) called the bill a much-needed reform to protect parents from repeated fee hikes.
'The previous government was more focused on advertisements while parents were being fleeced through various charges. This bill will bring real change. Importantly, it gives parents representation in fee regulation committees — they will no longer be silent spectators,' he said.
However, leader of the opposition Atishi described the bill as a 'legal cover' for increasing school fees.
'We've proposed amendments based on parent feedback. These will be put to vote tomorrow,' she said.
AAP MLA Prem Chauhan (Deoli) echoed the criticism, pointing out that the bill empowers school committees to fix fee structures without mandating financial audits.
'Even filing a complaint requires support from 15% of parents, which is an unfair hurdle. Parents won't have majority representation in fee committees. Complaints will get stuck in the process. We demand the bill be referred to a select committee,' he said.
AAP members also called for an immediate freeze on school fee hikes. Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta said proposed amendments from all members would be presented on Wednesday, followed by voting.
Other assembly issues
In addition to the fee bill, several other local concerns were raised. Atishi flagged the demolition of slums across the capital, accusing the BJP of misleading residents with false promises.
Deputy speaker Mohan Singh Bisht said a hospital building in Shiv Vihar, Mustafabad, damaged during the riots, remains in disrepair. 'A new hospital must be built. The area has a population of over 5 lakh,' he said. Health minister assured that the matter would be addressed.
Other MLAs raised issues ranging from waterlogging and drainage problems in Kirari to community dog management and delays in pension disbursement for DTC employees. A scheduled discussion on CAG reports was postponed to Wednesday.