175 RTE admissions cancelled over false income declarations this year

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad City District Education Officer (DEO) revoked the admissions of 175 students who were admitted to private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act this year. The cancellations were done after discovering that the parents submitted false income declarations.
Among the 175 cancelled admissions, 63 were from Kalorex Future School in Ghatlodia, which were cancelled on Friday.During the hearing, most parents of these students, who are currently in Classes 3 to 7, admitted to having higher incomes than the prescribed limit of Rs 1.50 lakh per annum for urban areas. The DEO ordered the cancellation of these students' admissions at the end of the current academic year to protect their interests.
Rohit Chaudhary, DEO of Ahmedabad City, said, "We cancelled 175 admissions given under the RTE Act in Ahmedabad City schools so far this academic year. We held a hearing of the parents of these 63 students recently after receiving a complaint from Kalorex Future School. During the hearing, parents admitted to providing false income information. The admission of these students will be cancelled at the end of this academic year. These children were admitted a few years ago and now they are studying in Class 3 to 7."
The requirement to submit income tax returns at the time of RTE admission has been in place for the past two years. Before this, parents took advantage of the absence of this requirement by providing false income information on affidavits to secure admission, according to sources.
Last year, other schools such as Shivashish, JG Genesis, Anand Niketan, Udgam School, and KN Patel School raised similar concerns about approximately 50 such admissions.
Sources in the DEO's office indicated that hearings for parents in several similar cases are pending, and the number of cancelled admissions may increase in the coming days.