The Opposition BJP on Saturday alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government was collecting data of students studying in schools under its jurisdiction for “political purposes”.
Expressing doubts about the ‘intention’ behind the exercise and alleging that it exposed the AAP Delhi government’s attempt at ‘taking the help of innocent students for its political gains’, the Delhi BJP ‘strongly condemned’ it.
“We have been opposing this process since September 2018. When the Directorate of Education (DoE) issued the notification, the Delhi BJP was the first one to lodge its objection and demand an inquiry,” Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said.
The north-east Delhi MP said that the Delhi government, in a circular issued in September, had asked all the schools including public and private ones, to collect data of all students, their family members and relatives.
Objections raised
Mr. Tiwari said the details sought included mobile numbers, voter ID and data related to educational qualification which, he argued, was, prima facie, a violation of the right to privacy.
“The Delhi High Court had also raised an objection to it. Now, the Election Commission has said that collecting data related to the voters is only the right of the Election Commission and no other party can do so. But the statement of Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia on the objections of Election Commission is an attack on the federal system under the Constitution,” Mr. Tiwari alleged.
Reacting to the Election Commission asking the government to stop the exercise, Mr. Sisodia, on Saturday, said that the poll panel did not have the right to do so. “The education mafia is causing this controversy. There is admission fraud in Delhi that we are trying to catch...The EC’s mandate is not to support the BJP’s education mafia, but to conduct elections...As long as the voter card is a valid address proof, the EC cannot ask us to stop the exercise,” he said at a press conference.
Mr. Sisodia added that the exercise had been started after reports of residents of neighbouring States being enrolled in Delhi government schools using false address proofs. He said the students from other States would not be removed, but the government would use the data for formulating future policies.
On its part, Mr. Tiwari said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal must explain ‘how the children and their family members will benefit’ by the process. “In spite of sufficient information collected at the time of admission, what is the purpose behind collecting private information and the intention of getting it done through a private agency?” he demanded.