Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Delhi Assembly, Atishi, has slammed the BJP government for shielding private schools and bypassing public consultation on the Fee Regulation Bill. In a letter to CM Rekha Gupta, she demanded that the bill be tabled in the Assembly—not sneaked in through an ordinance—and passed only after taking feedback from parents and stakeholders.
Senior AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy CM, Manish Sisodia, took to ‘X’ and wrote, “Listen to what parents in Delhi — troubled by the BJP–school mafia nexus — have to say, in their own words. On one side, the BJP government in Delhi is openly backing the education mafia. On the other, the Aam Aadmi Party stands shoulder to shoulder with parents. AAP will not only be the voice of parents in the Assembly but will fight alongside them on every front against this education mafia.”
Meanwhile, in her letter, Delhi Assembly LoP Atishi wrote, “Ever since BJP has come to power in Delhi, private schools have arbitrarily and excessively hiked school fees. Parents have been protesting outside the schools, on the streets, outside the Directorate of Education. But despite these efforts, the Government has not rolled back the fee hike of a single school.”
She continued, “The Delhi Government announced that they have passed a Bill in the Cabinet for private school fee regulation. However, no one has seen this draft Bill. There has been no public consultation on this important legislation. Not a single parent, activist, educationist has given their inputs. Why this secrecy? Why was the draft Bill not put online for public feedback?”
Atishi added, “In a Press Conference you stated that the Bill would soon be tabled before the Assembly in a Special Session. However, yesterday the Hon’ble Education Minister, Sh. Ashish Sood, said that the Bill would be brought in the form of an Ordinance. This is very shocking.”
“No public consultation was done at the time of the drafting of the Bill. And now there will be no debate in the Assembly either. This gives rise to the suspicion that there is collusion between the BJP Government and private schools; that this Bill is being brought in through the back-door to protect the interests of private schools, not of aggrieved parents,” she further added.
The Delhi Assembly LoP said, “We as a strong opposition will continue to raise the voice of the people on this matter. We demand:
- The Government should immediately call a Special Session of the Assembly and table the Fee Regulation bill.
- The Bill should then be referred to a Select Committee, with members from both BJP and AAP.
- The Select Committee should do a large scale public consultation involving all stakeholders.
- Only after this, the final draft of the Bill after incorporating all changes should be passed by the Assembly.”
She asserted, “If the Bill is brought as an Ordinance-without any debate or public consultation-it will just confirm the suspicion of the people of Delhi that the BJP Government is protecting the interests of private schools, not the parents.”
