A glaring example of how the two Central Acts helped a child get admission to a government-aided school came to light in Sambhal. The parents of the child took help of Right to Information (RTI) Act and Right to Education (RTE) Act to get their son admitted to a school.
Revealing about how different Central Acts were facilitating successful implementation of each other, State Information Commissioner Hafiz Usman said on Tuesday that Dheeraj Kumar hailing from Sambhal had filed an application with local District Basic Siksha Adhikari (BSA) Dr Satyanarain under the RTI Act seeking information about the provisions for economically weaker section children to get admission under the RTE Act and that how much time the school authority could take to decide on the application filed under the said Act. He also sought information about what action was taken on the admission form filed by him under the RTE Act in a local government-aided school seeking admission for his son.
Usman said that when the BSA refused to give any reply to the application, the applicant filed reminders and finally knocked the doors of CIC court seeking justice in the matter. Usman said that finding that the BSA was making unnecessary delay in replying to queries, he summoned the officer in his court. SIC claimed that he directed the BSA to look into the matter and file a written reply in his court within one month so that appropriate action could be taken against officials or individuals who were ignoring provisions of the Central Acts and denying poor child the right to education. He also warned the BSA that if he did not file the report in the matter within the above time span, he would face action.
Usman said that finally the BSA turned up in his court and apprised him that he looked into the matter and had informed the applicant that as per the provisions under the Section 12(1) of the RTE Act 2009, his (applicant) son was already admitted to the school. Usman said that he directed the BSA to look whether all government aided schools were complying with the RTE Act and if not than initiate necessary action so the government help could be stopped and further legal action could be taken against such institutions.