Free Press Journal: Thane: Monday, February 05, 2018.
An RTI filed
by an organisation working in the field of education has revealed that the
Thane Municipal Corporation has been collecting fees from its English medium
students illegally since many years. The Thane Corporation on the other hand
has accepted the mistake and is ready to return the money back but has asked
for the directions from the government.
The Thane
Municipal Corporation runs municipal schools through an education board.
Children from all over the city study in these civic schools. However, the
corporation has been collecting huge amount as fees from its English medium
students. An RTI filed by the ‘Saman Shikshan Mulbhut Adhikar Samiti’ revealed
that the corporation has collected almost Rs 5 crore as fees from these
students. The committee wrote a letter to the state Chief Secretary requesting
an inquiry into this. As per the directions from the Deputy Director, Town
Development Department, Mumbai, the Thane Corporation was supposed to return
this amount to the students but has done nothing so far.
The
corporation was also asked to return 10 times fine and Rs 6,000 to each
student. The committee has also demanded strict legal action against the
concerned officials. The Thane Municipal Corporation decided to start the
English medium schools in 2003. In the same year, the corporation received an
amount of Rs 6 lakh as fees. The Indian Constitution’s Fundamental Rights Act
(2002) (Education Right Act 21) includes free education and therefore, the
corporation’s resolution itself is illegal, claims the committee.
“When the
Constitution has given the right to have free education to students, the
corporations are bound to follow the constitutional norms. We are even planning
to go to the court regarding this issue,” said Ghanshyam Sonar, member of Saman
Shikshan Mulbhut Adhikar Samiti.
The whole
scam was revealed when the committee had contacted a municipal school in
Uthalsar for an admission in 2017. Then the committee filed an RTI and wrote to
the Chief Secretary of State seeking action against in this regard. The
Corporation Commissioner on 1st June 2017 gave orders to education board to
abolish the fee system.
The civic
school in Lokmanya Nagar demanded fees for conducting cultural programme which
was illegal. When the parents and the committee intervened, the Principal had
to admit demanding money and it was returned to the students. On July 4, 2017,
Town Development Department ordered an inquiry into the issue. Also, the Deputy
Director, Mumbai division wrote a letter to the Thane Corporation asking them
to return the money to the students. The issue later was dispatched to MP
Supriya Sule who also wrote to Thane Corporation on November 28, 2017.
“The
Corporation is planning to return the money from 2012 and will be deciding the
policy for this issue,” said, Maneesh Joshi, Deputy Commissioner, Education
Department. The corporation have stopped demanding fees from June 2017. The
committee has demanded that Corporation must pay back the entire amount that
was collected as fees from 2003.
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