The BJP-led Delhi government has launched a full-scale assault on the middle class, pushing through a secretly-drafted ordinance that hands over fee control in private schools to school managements themselves—while keeping parents in the dark. AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj asserted that it’s a betrayal to Delhiites and a brazen surrender to private school lobbies. The ordinance bypasses the Delhi Assembly entirely, revealing the BJP’s fear of public scrutiny and its deep nexus with private interests.
During a press conference, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “Ever since the BJP formed a government in Delhi, the first session of private schools began with a wave of fee hikes. Almost every school increased their fees. Under various pretexts—school uniforms, stationery, books, extra classes, extracurricular activities, and even air conditioning—fees were inflated across multiple heads. Parents were left with no choice; they were forced to pay the increased amount.”
Explaining earlier rules for hiking fees, he said, “Until now, the law stated that if any private school wanted to raise its fees, it was mandatory to get prior approval from the Department of Education under the Delhi government. Only after receiving this approval could the fee hike be implemented. But starting from 1st April, private schools arbitrarily increased their fees without seeking any such approval, and the government failed to take any action. No school was instructed by the government to roll back the hike or refund the extra fees collected from parents.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj continued, “Now, the government, working secretly, began preparing a new law. They passed it in the Cabinet without consulting anyone. No parent was called for suggestions, no parent body was involved, and no attempt was made to explain it. The draft wasn’t made public, wasn’t uploaded online, and no citizen feedback was sought.”
He added that it was expected that the bill would be brought before the Legislative Assembly so that opposition parties could scrutinise it—because that is the primary function of a legislative assembly. Arguments in favour or against the bill would be debated, and the matter would be discussed in public view. But the government is so afraid, and under such pressure from the private school lobby, that they didn’t risk even that.
The former Delhi Minister highlighted the BJP Government’s move to push it as ordinance, saying, “Without any consultation, the government passed this law in the form of an ordinance. Now they’re saying they will get it approved by the President through the Lieutenant Governor. The question is—what exactly are they hiding?”
Saurabh Bharadwaj said that if you’re doing something in the interest of parents, then make it public. Put it on your website. But nothing of that sort has been done. Instead, after passing the ordinance, the government nervously planted stories in just two newspapers to float selective information. Even after the ordinance has been cleared, the government remains so fearful that it hasn’t officially released the full contents.
Reasoning that the ordinance is built to benefit private school owners, he added, “So far, nobody has seen the full text of the ordinance. And based on what little has appeared in the newspapers, it’s clear that the ordinance is completely designed to benefit private school owners. The law that is being abused now is the one from 1973—ironically, not even brought in by us but by the Central government. Even in that law, the Supreme Court had upheld a provision that required schools to get their proposed fee hikes approved by the Director of Education before implementing them. But this government has removed even that safeguard.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Under the new setup, the power to fix fees has been handed over to committees formed at the school level. These Fee Regulation Committees will be considered final authorities. The fees decided by them will automatically be treated as ‘approved’. There will be no need to seek permission from any government body.”
He continued, “Each of these committees will have five members from the school itself—three teachers, one principal, and one member from school management. All five are effectively insiders. And for the remaining members, they claim that parents will be selected through a lottery system. But the lottery means any name can come up—it might be someone who has no knowledge of school finances, no understanding of audits, and perhaps no interest in participating. The day a meeting is called, they may not even show up.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj added that out of five parent members, if four show up and one doesn’t, and all five school members attend, the vote will always tilt in favour of the school. That’s all it would take—these ten people, most of whom are insiders, would pass any fee proposal and declare it approved. This is the farce that will now determine what parents pay.
He asked what’s to stop a school from simply preventing a dissenting parent from entering the premises on the day of the meeting? A guard at the gate could stop them, and with only the hand-picked or passive members present, the school gets its way. They stamp the fee hike as ‘approved’, and that’s that.
Saurabh Bharadwaj asserted, “This is open and blatant surrender of governance. The BJP government has sold itself entirely to private school owners. Every shred of morality and fairness has been abandoned.”
He said, “We had earlier exposed how the management of private schools was openly campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party. They wanted BJP to win the elections. The chairman of a school group committee, Bharat Arora, was actively involved in the campaign of BJP candidate Rekha Gupta. This unholy alliance is now playing out in full public view. What we’re seeing now is daylight deception.”
The AAP Delhi State President further said, “Now here’s where it gets even more absurd. The government has added another so-called safeguard, saying that if a school charges more than the ‘approved fees’ and a parent complains, it will be fined Rs 50,000. Now just look at how this has been rigged. The fee will be decided by the Fee Regulation Committee, which—as we’ve already explained—is controlled by the school itself. Suppose the committee sets the fee at Rs 1.95 lakh instead of the original Rs 1 lakh. Now, since that inflated fee is technically ‘approved’, the school is never going to demand more than Rs 1.95 lakh. So the clause about a Rs 50,000 penalty becomes meaningless—it will never apply.”
He said, “Why would a school, after getting Rs 1.95 lakh approved through its own committee, demand Rs 2 lakh or Rs 2.5 lakh. No school is that foolish. Which means, no penalty will ever be imposed. The clause about fining or taking over the school, appointing an administrator, or a receiver—it’s all eyewash. That scenario will simply never arise. The Fee Regulation Committee will always rubber-stamp whatever the school wants, and the government will act as if everything is legal.”
Highlighting the absence of protection for parents, Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “What the government should have done is put in a clause saying that if a student is expelled over non-payment of any fee—whether ‘approved’ or not—the school will face a penalty of Rs 50,000. But even that basic protection hasn’t been included.”
Pointing to the appeals process deliberately being made impossible, he added, “Now take the appeals process. If a parent is unhappy with the decision of the Fee Regulation Committee, the law says they can challenge it—but only if they gather support from 15% of the parents. That means, if a school has 3,000 students, one would have to collect signatures from 450 parents. Where will they get these addresses from? The school has that data—not the parents. Which parent knows the names and contact information of 450 others? Who is going to go house to house collecting signatures for an appeal?”
The former Delhi Minister asserted that this law is drafted entirely in favour of school owners. He said, “It empowers them completely while giving Delhi’s middle class nothing but delusions. This government knows that, and that is precisely why they haven’t brought this bill to the Vidhan Sabha. It would take no time to convene an Assembly session in Delhi. We’re not a massive state like Maharashtra where gathering MLAs is a challenge. This is a small city—call a special session in two days and everyone will be there.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Why is the government avoiding debate? They say the Monsoon Session is in August—but you don’t need to wait. Call a special session next month. Call it the day after tomorrow. The fact that they are running away from discussion shows their intent is dishonest.”
