HC tells Delhi govt to raise income limit for EWS admissions

The court directed the Delhi government to immediately do away with the current system of EWS admission based on a self-declaration of income by the parents

The Delhi high court on Tuesday directed the state government to increase the income threshold for admissions to school under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category from the existing ₹1 lakh per annum to ₹5 lakh per annum, adding that the previous baseline did not reflect the economic hardships faced by families in contemporary times.

The high court court’s order came in a plea challenging the cancellation of admission of a child at a private school on the grounds that the child’s father allegedly forged his voter ID card and income declaration. (HT photo)

The court also directed the Delhi government to immediately do away with the current system of admission in the EWS category based on a self-declaration of income by the parents, and ordered the government to devise an appropriate framework for EWS admissions in schools.

According to the Delhi School Education (Free seats for Students belonging to Economically Weaker Sections and Disadvantage Group) Order, 2011, children whose parents have an annual income of less than ₹1 lakh, and have been living in the Capital for the last three years, are entitled to admission under the EWS quota.

On Tuesday, the court remarked that Delhi has the lowest requisite income criteria, compared to the ₹8 lakh per annum threshold followed by most other states, adding that governments are reasonably expected to respond to the changing needs of society.

“It is apparently forcing the common people, who otherwise fall in the bottom line of the economic strata, to resort to unfair means to secure admission for their children or to keep their hands off from the benefits of welfare legislation. It is deeply agonising to see the complete apathy and lackadaisical attitude of the state authorities which is at the helm of protecting the educational rights of the economically weaker sections of the society, which flow from the fundamental right to education,” justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said in the judgment.

The court’s order came in a plea challenging the cancellation of admission of a child at a private school in Delhi on the grounds that the child’s father allegedly forged his voter ID card to meet the eligibility criteria, and allegedly made a false declaration regarding his income.

The court, however, ordered continuation of the child’s admission but imposed ₹10 lakh cost on his father.

The judgment comes at a time when the Supreme Court is yet to adjudicate on petitions challenging the applicability of EWS criteria of ₹8 lakh in NEET-PG 2022-23.

Justice Kaurav, in his 59-page verdict, opined that the mechanism of self-declaration of income further exacerbated the misery of deserving candidates, as such certificates were more susceptible to misrepresentation in the absence of a framework to check their veracity.

“It has come to the notice of this court that the minimum wage of an unskilled labourer in Delhi is ₹17,494/- per month but startlingly, as per the existing eligibility criterion, even children of such laborers are not entitled for reaping the benefits of the EWS scheme for securing admission in schools. It is, at any prudent stretch of imagination, too far-fetched to assume that the total parental income of a child seeking admission under EWS category and living in a metropolitan city like Delhi shall be below Rs. 1,00,000/- per annum,” the court said.

HT reached out to the Directorate of Education (DoE), but officials there did not comment on the matter.

The Delhi government did not respond to requests seeking comment on the issue.