School Fee Issue: ‘There Seems To Be A Tacit Understanding Between Govt & Private Schools’

Bhubaneswar: A day after Odisha Government admitted in the Orissa High Court that it has no control over the fee structure policies of private schools, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, Pradipta Naik on Friday slammed the State government for its stand.

Alleging that there is tacit understanding between the Odisha government and private schools, Naik shot off a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urging him to take an appropriate decision based on the demands and claims of the parents’ association.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Odisha government on Wednesday stated before the High Court that it is not legally empowered to intervene in the reduction of the tuition fees of private schools during the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

In its affidavit submitted before the court, the State government stated that the government has no specific provisions for fixation of fee structure of different unaided private schools.

Leader of Opposition in #Odisha Assembly, Pradipta Naik criticizes State govt for expressing inability in controlling the fee structure policies of pvt schools. Naik writes to CM Naveen Patnaik urging him to take a favourable decision on the basis of parents' association claim

— OTV (@otvnews) December 4, 2020

Denouncing the government's stance, Naik today pointed out in his letter that by exercising sovereign power, the State Government could have promulgated an ordinance empowering itself to take a decision in the matter. The same procedure has seen followed to amend the Odisha University Act 1989.

Naik questioned the government as to why did not introduce a bill in the last assembly session to estate a law to intervene in the fee structure and payment in some extraordinary circumstances.

According to him, the Epidemic Act - 1897 and the Law has empowered the State government to take suitable decisions as the situation warrants to mitigate the burden of Covid-19 pandemic.

The Disaster Management Act — 2015 vide section 35, 62 and 72 has given extensive power, irrespective of any Law in force or not in force with over-riding power and the Govt. could have invoked its power to take a just and right decision instead of intimating the Orissa High Court on inadequacy of Law, his letter read.

Without any specific provisions of law in the Odisha Gram Panchayat Act, State Government declared the head of the G.P. (Sarpanch) as Collector (in restrictive sense in their local limits) and empowered them to declare lockdown in their respective area and direct any particular person to stay in quarantine, the LoP said.

“Taking the above facts into consideration, I would request the State Govt. to take suitable decision in the manner on the basis of claims of the parent's Association,” Naik stated in his letter.