HC reserves verdict on denying RTE admissions

RAIPUR,CG,INDIA: The High Court of Chhattisgarh has reserved its verdict after the final hearing on the issue of private schools denying admission to children from economically weaker sections under the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

Bhilai-based social worker C.V. Bhagwant Rao filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) through advocate Devarshi Singh, raising concerns that many well-known private schools in the state were not following the RTE mandate, which reserves 25 percent of seats for underprivileged children. The petition stated that if children living within a one-kilometer radius were not admitted, they should be accommodated in schools within three kilometers or beyond, as per the guidelines of the Act.

During the hearing before the Chief Justice's bench, the petitioner’s counsel presented data showing that 1.22 lakh applications were received for 59,000 RTE seats across the state, but in Raipur district, only 19,000 applications were received for 5,000 seats. Many reputed schools admitted only 3 percent of the eligible students under RTE, and the government’s nodal officers had failed to take effective action against schools that were not complying with the law.

In response, the state government argued that admissions under RTE are part of a government policy process and that it has the authority to decide which schools should be required to admit these children. The petitioner’s counsel countered this by pointing out that the BPL list being used to determine eligibility was last updated in 2007, while the RTE Act came into effect in 2009, covering children aged six to fourteen years. They argued that due to outdated criteria, children born in 2020 who should be eligible for RTE in 2025 were being unfairly excluded.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the High Court has reserved its decision, which is expected to have a significant impact on the implementation of the RTE Act and access to education for underprivileged children in Chhattisgarh.