Faced with a new controversy that the American Embassy School in New Delhi is in possibly serious violation of India’s visa and tax laws, the US Government has taken the stand that the school is not being run by its embassy.
Asked to comment on a New York Times report that female spouses of couples intending to teach at the school were advised to list their occupation on visa applications as “housewife”, the State Department sought to steer clear of the controversy by asserting that its embassy in New Delhi did not run the institution.
The school, which charges its students a whopping tuition fee of more than $20,000 a year, squats on land owned by the US Government near the embassy premises in Chanakyapuri. It boasts of top-class facilities, including a well-stocked library, swimming pool, tennis courts and athletic fields.
Without elaborating on precisely who administers the school, State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters: “It is not run by the Embassy. Only about a third of the students there are American. We are in discussion with the Government of India regarding issues they have raised concerning the school.”
Psaki opted not to react to the NYT report or other media accounts citing officials of the Ministry of External Affairs that it could be a clear violation of the Indian tax law on the school’s part.
“We’ve certainly seen those reports,” Psaki said, but then proceeded on a different track, remarking: “let me give you all a little more history here. Since 1952, when the Embassy exchanged diplomatic notes with the Government of India to establish the American Embassy school, the school has succeeded in providing an international education in New Delhi for the children of diplomatic and ex-pat business communities.”
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns did discuss “these very issues” with Indian Ambassador S Jaishankar here earlier this week, Psaki said, adding: “We are committed to resolving them through diplomatic channels and to addressing the concerns that have been raised.”
In an embarrassing revelation, the NYT reported from New Delhi that a handout for new teachers at this exclusive institution offered “some unusual guidance to female teachers whose husbands will also be teaching at the school”.
The handout says that the female spouses should not state that they would be working, and should list their occupation on visa applications as “housewife”. Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Syed Akbaruddin termed the reported instructions a clear violation of the Indian tax law.
The report also cited a senior Indian official as having estimated that the American school in Delhi had at least 16 teachers working illegally, while the ones in Mumbai and Chennai probably had several more.