Asks govt to furnish list of govt-aided private schools providing free education to poor children
Srinagar: The High Court has directed the J&K administration to file a list of government-aided private schools providing free education to poor children, besides status of the process on formulation of rules to implement the provisions of Right to Education Act in the Union Territory.
The direction was ordered in a PIL filed by the Young Lawyers Forum, seeking court’s directions to the government for expeditious implementation of the Right to Education Act in J&K in letter and spirit.
The bench of Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice M Y Wani directed “the respondent shall also file the list of government-aided schools which are imparting free education as per the Act in J&K.”
The bench said “in view of the stand taken by the UT administration, it would require the respondent authorities to inform this court as to the status of the progress of the work or process initiated inasmuch formulating necessary rules to implement the provisions of Right to Education Act”, adding “it is imperative that there be no further delay in the process”.
The bench referred to the status report submitted by the UT administration in 2023. It mentioned that in order to effectively implement the provisions of the Act, the department (answering respondent) are in the process of formulating rules under Right to Education Act so as to provide proper mechanism to implement each and every provision of the Act in letter and spirit.
The bench in today’s hearing observed “if the rules have not been framed, the inference we can draw is that the aforesaid Act has not been implemented properly. This in our view may amount to serious infraction of the constitutional obligation of the State as the Right to Education is a guaranteed Fundamental Right under Article 21A”.
It allowed the UT an opportunity to provide the necessary status report by the middle of next month.
The petitioner counsel Huzaif Ashraf Khanpori argued “it has been more than three years since the Act of 2009 has become applicable to the Union Territory of J&K and its applicability that had given many hopes to children from marginalized and poor sections of the society to get education in private schools, which is otherwise unaffordable and unimaginable to them.”
He said “even after an interlude of almost three years, the Act is yet to be implemented by the schools in the UT of J&K due to the callous attitude of the government and has deprived the poor students from their statutory right of receiving free and compulsory education under the Act and other rights enshrined therein.”
The PIL highlighted the “non-implementation” of the mandatory reservation provided under Section 12(1)(b) and 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act. This is in a continuing violation of the fundamental right to free and compulsory education under Article 21A available to the large section of children belonging to weaker and disadvantaged sections apart from violating the Statutory mandate under the RTE Act.
