The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the blatant looting through fee hikes by private schools in Delhi, exposing the BJP government’s hand-in-glove corruption. Former Education Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday highlighted deep-rooted collusion between private school managements and the current government, saying the BJP has handed a “free pass to loot parents,” reversing the Arvind Kejriwal government’s decade-long crackdown on the education mafia.

“Private schools cannot raise fees without the blessings of those in power. The question is — how much of this loot is going into the pockets of BJP ministers?” he charged. Sisodia highlighted multiple cases of arbitrary fee hikes without government approval, “Several private schools have hiked fees without permission and even shut their doors to students. Ahlcon Public School increased monthly fees for classes 11 and 12 from `12,000 to `13,000. Salwan Public School hiked fees from `9,000 to `11,000. St Angel’s School issued a blanket 11 per cent hike. There has been no increase in teacher salaries or school expenses, so why these hikes?”. He reasoned, “Because private schools now know there is a government that doesn’t care — and is complicit in this loot. Rukmini Devi Public School has issued a blanket 10 per cent hike, Lancer’s Convent School raised fees from `4,900 to `6,500, and Greenfields and ITL Public Schools have hiked fees by 10 per cent.”

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters on Saturday, Sisodia slammed the BJP-led Delhi government for relentlessly working against the interests of Delhi’s people. He said, “Since the BJP came to power in Delhi, it has been working every day to harm the interests of Delhiites. Arvind Kejriwal had launched many pro-people schemes. But now, women no longer receive free bus rides, Mohalla Clinics are shutting down, medicines are no longer available in government hospitals, and diagnostic tests have stopped.”