Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia slammed the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday for allowing private schools to hike their fees and alleged that the saffron party wants to "keep the country uneducated".
Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio in the Delhi government, said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should consider the condition of the parents.
"The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was formed in Punjab on March 16 and within 10 days, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann issued an order saying private schools cannot increase their fees.
"On the other hand, the BJP government was formed in Uttar Pradesh on March 25 and it passed an order saying private schools have complete freedom to increase the fees and loot the parents," he said during an online briefing.
Sisodia said many people have lost their livelihood during the COVID-19 pandemic and the fee hike will hurt them.
"They cannot work on improving government schools. Where will the common man go? People have lost employment during Covid. You will not work on improving the condition of the government schools and you will allow the private schools to hike the fees. You want to keep the country illiterate. This is the BJP's governance model. Please think about the parents," he said.
Sisodia also pointed out how the Delhi government has worked on keeping the fee hike by private schools in check.
"Earlier, private schools could arbitrarily increase their fees in Delhi, but we stopped it in 2015. In the last seven years, we have stopped the private schools from increasing the fees and then we introduced a system where if they need to hike the fees, they will have to seek permission from the Delhi government. Their accounts are analysed by the government to figure out whether they actually need to increase the fees," he said.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU