In a departure from the customary form, the House on the third day of the Budget session on Monday saw the treasury bench MlAs keeping the Cabinet Ministers on the tenterhooks while pestering them with pointed questions with the Opposition members seemingly enjoying it.
The BJP MlA Deshraj Karnwal asked the minister Arvind Pandey whether he was aware of the private schools fleecing the parents of the students while spiking their fees arbitrarily, resulting in the parents staging stir against the school administrations. Pandey in his reply said that he had read it in the media. “We are giving final touches to the policy governing the fee structure. Besides, we have issued a notification, instructing the school authorities to refrain from charging parents in the name of readmission fee and caution money dated April 27, 2017. The district education officer (DEO) has been asked to constitute a committee led by SDM at the Tehsil level,” he said.
At this point of time, another BJP MlA Munna Singh Chouhan asked the minister whether he was aware of the fact that the private school authorities are not returning the caution money even after the students are provided with the transfer certificates and the passing certificates. “Will you tell us whether you have taken any action against the erring schoolsIJ” he asked the minister. Sensing that more such questions were about to be flung at him, the minister sought to wrap up things by stating that once the schools reopen after the summer vacation they would force the school authorities to return the caution money to the students and also to stop them from seeking readmission fees.