Rs11.92 crore sanctioned to pay Rs 45 crore Nagpur RTE bills

NAGPUR: Though the Union Budget may not have given much for schools to cheer about this month, the Nagpur education department does have some good news regarding Right To Education (RTE) admission reimbursements. A senior education official confirmed to TOI that Rs11.92 crore has been sanctioned for district schools, and will be available for disbursal this week itself.
"The total pending bills for Nagpur district are around Rs45 crore, against which the first instalment is coming in a few days. We are confident that the government will release the remaining amount soon," the official said. RTE reimbursements have been the bone of contention between schools and the state government for the last couple of years. The last two months have seen a sharp escalation in the friction between the two because of state government's failure to clear the pending dues.

A school trustee said, "The government says only Rs300 crore was pending, of which approximately 50% has been approved for disbursal. But we have major doubts over this calculation. If Nagpur district alone has Rs45 crore pending dues, then does it mean the rest three dozen districts account for only Rs155 crore?" The trustee said the recent promise of disbursal is still unacceptable.

"Why should we praise the government for releasing this money? It is our rightful money which has been pending for years. They are simply doing their duty in clearing debts and not granting us a favour," the trustee added.

As reported by TOI, many schools across the state have decided to boycott the RTE admission process, and had refused to register on the portal. The state then auto-registered them using previous year's data but now associations say they won't give admission under RTE at all. A school principal, whose relative is the trustee, said, "There is no point in saying anything to the government at this moment. Let the entire parent registration process get completed, and when the actual admissions start we will take up our stand." Already certain schools have approached the Aurangabad Bench of Bombay High Court over RTE pending bills and admission issue.

A school trustee, who is part of the legal action, said, "Now, even if the education department tries to take action against us we will simply say that the matter is sub-judice, hence nothing can be done by the schools."