While assuring the Delhi high court that it would not share the voter identity details of parents and relatives of students of state-run schools with any other agency, the Delhi government on Tuesday said it was collecting the details to implement the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

The city government informed a bench of justice Sanjiv Khanna and justice AJ Bhambani that by collecting the data they can bring back children who have dropped out of school and this was not possible in the absence of a detailed and comprehensive data bank.

“The data so collected will not be shared or retained at the school/zonal/district level for personal or any other use and it will be collected in strict compliance with guidelines,” the reply read.

The reply came while hearing a plea filed by the Delhi Government School Teachers Association, through advocate Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, challenging the move by the government, seeking the voter ID details of the parents and relatives of students.

On Tuesday, the court was informed that on November 27, a circular was issued by the Directorate of Education (DoE) where it is specifically mentioned that, “except DoE, no outside agency’ has been hired or engaged for data collection or verification”.

“Once it is uploaded on the DoE website, no one can see or use (the data) without permission of competent authority,” the reply read.

The court was also told that it is absolutely impossible to plan and allocate budget for suitable infrastructure and facilities for children in the absence of comprehensive data.

Earlier, the Delhi government had removed Aadhaar card from the list of the documents sought from children after the Supreme Court had delivered its verdict. The high court had also rapped the state government for collecting the phone numbers and voter ID details of relatives and parents. The matter would be now heard on February 25, 2019.

First Published: Dec 19, 2018 16:13 IST