Detaining students over fee arrears is wrong: Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday visited a school where young students were detained for non-payment of tuition fees. He rebuked the principal and said "taking hostage for collecting arrears is wrong".

"You are a principal. The position has a reputation and high status in society. This is not the way to deal with children.

"The way you have treated them is not right. Using students to get dues cleared is wrong. Legal action will be taken against those found guilty but I urge you not to repeat it," Kejriwal told the principal of Rabia Public School in Old Delhi.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by his deputy Manish Sisodia, who is also the Delhi Education Minister. Ballimaran legislator and Environment Minister Imran Hussain in whose constituency the school exists was also present.

The Ministers also interacted with the students and teachers. "A case has been registered. The Delhi government will conduct an inquiry into the incident that happened on Monday.

"Action will be taken against those found guilty," Kejriwal told the media later.

The school authorities on July 9 locked up over half a dozen students aged four and five years in the school premises after their parents failed to pay their tuition fees.

The school management, including Headmistress Farha Diba Khan, were named in the First Information Report filed under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.

The management was booked on a complaint by Shabeen Hasan who had dropped his two daughters at the school around 7.30 a.m. on Monday. He said when he returned to pick them up after school hours, he could not find them in their classes.

"When I enquired from the staff, I got to know that some minors had been forcibly locked in the school basement for hours without food. The children were let off only after we informed the police," he said in the FIR.

Hasan told IANS that the aggrieved parents had earlier promised to the management they would clear the dues within a couple of days.