
School fee hike sparks protest by parents in Delhi, demand reforms
While a small delegation was granted a brief interaction and promised further discussion, no follow-up communication occurred despite formal reminders.As part of the protest, parents submitted a detailed memorandum addressed to the Lieutenant Governor, Chief Minister, and Education Minister, highlighting several key concerns. These included unauthorised fee hikes, alleged misuse of school funds, and violations of student rights.The memorandum also objected to the recently passed Fee Regulation Ordinance 2025, which protestors claimed was implemented without sufficient public consultation.KEY DEMANDS RAISED BY PARENTSAmong the major demands listed were:Rollback of unratified fee increasesIndependent audits by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and forensic expertsGovernment-supervised parent-teacher association (PTA) elections for inclusive governanceAction against schools that shame or penalise students over unpaid fees, in violation of Article 21A of the ConstitutionParents also called for schools to shift to a monthly fee collection system, stating that lump-sum payments put undue financial pressure on families.They advocated for all infrastructure purchases to be routed through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) to ensure cost-effective and transparent spending.Another significant demand was for public disclosure of approved fee structures by the Directorate of Education on both government and school websites.UPV CALLS FOR FAIRNESS AND DIALOGUEAccording to Rahul Gupta, a parent and UPV member, the protest reflected the community's frustration after exhausting all formal channels.'We have tried all channels, emails, meetings, even written representations to the highest offices. Today's gathering is a collective call for fairness and dignity in our children's education,' he said.UPV reaffirmed its commitment to peaceful civic action and urged the government to initiate an open and transparent dialogue with concerned parents.The group also mentioned that earlier appeals had been sent via email and speed post to the President, Prime Minister, and Union Home Minister, seeking immediate intervention.As parents continue to push for greater accountability in private education, they have vowed to persist with peaceful advocacy until meaningful reforms are achieved.(With inputs from PTI)- EndsMust Watch
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Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Parliamentary committee seeks answers from BHU on range of issues
The Parliamentary standing committee on education, women, children, youth and sports has sought answers to 40 questions from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on a range of issues such as academics, probe and compliance of National Commission for Women's directives among others, according to an official. One key concern is the prolonged absence of a regular vice-chancellor at the BHU. (File) The committee, led by Rajya Sabha MP Digvijay Singh, which inspected the BHU on July 1, has sought a written reply from BHU. The university administration is preparing answers to these questions, the official said. The panel also includes members such as Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, Dr Bhim Singh, Ghosi MP Rajiv Rai, MPs Rekha Sharma, Brijmohan Agarwal, Amardev Sharaddev Kale, Dr Hemang Joshi and Shobhanaben Mahendra Singh Baraiya. After a campus inspection and a marathon meeting with university officials, the committee has now sought a written response supported by relevant documents. One key concern is the prolonged absence of a regular vice-chancellor. The committee asked when the last full-time VC demitted office and how many administrative posts a single person can legally hold under BHU statutes. On the academic front, the committee inquired whether BHU currently has elected teacher, staff, and student bodies. It also raised multiple questions regarding the utilisation of funds under the Institute of Eminence (IoE) scheme. These include the total funding received over the past four financial years, the officials responsible for implementing the programme, audits conducted and the list and status of projects undertaken using IoE funds, particularly in terms of infrastructure development. Regarding administrative appointments, the committee asked whether the current registrar is holding additional charge or is duly appointed, and requested a list of registrars over the last decade, along with their appointment status. It also questioned the appointment status of the medical superintendent at Sir Sunderlal Hospital, asking for the last date of a regular appointment and the basis for the current temporary arrangement. Among financial queries, the committee asked about the doubling of grants to IMS (from ₹165 crore in 2020-21 to ₹305 crore in 2021-22) and whether there was any move to convert IMS into a full-fledged AIIMS. The committee raised concerns over the reported privatisation of CT scan and cardiac catheterisation & intervention (CCI) lab facilities at IMS-BHU, pointing out that NMC guidelines require such services to be institution-owned. It also questioned the prolonged tenure of the professor-in-charge of the trauma centre and whether the IMS director had written to the acting VC regarding their removal. The committee has also demanded the status and reports of internal probes such as the Prof Jyoti Shukla committee on the blood bank and the Prof PS Tripathi committee on the ₹104-crore GEM procurement for the emergency centre. It also flagged alleged irregularities in the lottery-based admissions to Central Hindu Schools (affiliated to BHU) for both boys and girls.


Indian Express
2 days ago
- Indian Express
‘We are not giving up': Families of Indian prisoners in Qatar demand justice and govt support
'I shifted my daughter from a private school to a government school since I cannot afford it anymore,' Kuldeep said, sobbing over a phone call, while boarding a bus from Delhi to Sangrur in Punjab. She was among the 50 families from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, and Karnataka who protested at Jantar Mantar Thursday, led by the Indian Pravasi Movement. They urged the government to immediately implement the 2015 India-Qatar agreement on the transfer of sentenced people to repatriate Indian prisoners and an audit of the Indian Community Benevolent Fund (ICBF). Approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2014, the agreement allows 'Indian prisoners imprisoned in Qatar or vice-versa to be near their families, for serving the remaining part of their sentence and shall facilitate their social rehabilitation'. Similar agreements have been signed with countries such as the United Kingdom, Mauritius, Bulgaria, Brazil, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Bangladesh, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, and Sri Lanka. The ICBF, under the auspices of the Embassy of India in Doha, Qatar, has been established to provide financial, medical, and other forms of assistance to distressed and underprivileged Indians. However, Kuldeep's husband, Sandeep Singh, 40, arrested on charges of possession of drugs in his car, has been in jail for two and a half years, serving 10 years of imprisonment. His wife and a fourteen-year-old daughter live alone. 'He shifted to Doha in 2007 and has been a taxi driver since then. Recently, he bought his private car. One day, a customer left a bag, which had drugs. Later, the police arrested my husband. Now he is lodged in the central jail, and earns money by washing the clothes of the officers, and then calls us with that money.' Kuldeep is angry with the government's lack of support. 'I have given multiple written complaints now, even to the PM office, the Indian and Qatar embassies. My husband calls me every Friday. On the last call, he said that to date, the lawyer assigned to him by the Qatar government has never come to meet him or present his case. The judge just gave the verdict.' However, she had learned about the protest through her husband a week earlier. 'I have come to Delhi multiple times to file complaints, have exhausted all my resources, and I don't have a job either. He told me over the phone that a group from Kerala is protesting in Delhi, as he had learned from other inmates. I have not given up hope, wherever they say, I will go,' she said. For Parveen Kaur, from Amritsar, her biggest challenge is to make her children understand their father's whereabouts. 'They cry when he calls, asking when you will come. My seven-year-old daughter has lost interest in studies,' she said while travelling along with Kuldeep. Her husband, Gurjeet Singh, also a taxi driver in Qatar, was arrested in a drug case on October 12, 2022. 'I had called him in the daytime, and he said he would call me back. But when he never did, I rang him multiple times at night, then he said he was in the police station,' she said. Now, raising her two children alone, she said that her parents are assisting her, but they are also taking a step back due to the expenses. 'I had sold my jewellery and collected Rs 4.5 lakh and did a direct bank transfer to the Qatar lawyer. His (lawyer's) wife, an Indian, translated to me what the lawyer was saying. They said my husband would be deported soon. But after that, they stopped picking up my calls,' she said, her voice shaking, adding that she, too, received no help from the Indian embassy and the Indian government. Ashraf Ponnain, from Malappuram district in Kerala, was once a prisoner in Qatar, but is now back in India. However, during his last visit, he was unaware that his son, Naushad, had also been implicated in a cheque fraud case. 'I found out that my son was in jail after I got out. They accused him falsel; the sponsor had planted everything. The sponsor made him sign a blank cheque of 1 lakh 40 thousand Riyal. I have lost all the resources now,' he said, adding that he had already paid large amounts to get himself out by selling his shops back in Kerala, and now he has no money left to help his son. R J Sajith, president of the Indian Pravasi Movement, said the prisoners, all coming from poor households, have already borrowed money to reach the foreign country. 'Why is there no implementation of the agreement? Where are the funds from the ICBF going? These people are voiceless, but the embassy and the government have offered no help till now,' he alleged.


Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Revanth vows dharna at Jantar Mantar over 42% BC quota
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