Bill for regulating coaching classes to be tabled in monsoon session: State to HC

Maharashtra government to present a bill regulating private coaching classes in July, as court urges action on long-standing policy directives.

MUMBAI: The state government on Tuesday told the Bombay high court that a bill for regulating private coaching classes across the state will be tabled in the monsoon session of the state assembly.

New Delhi, India - February 7, 2022: Students are seen maintaining social distancing norms inside a classroom at Government Sarvodaya Girls Senior Secondary School at Trilok Puri in New Delhi, India, on Monday, February 7, 2022. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had on Friday decided to reopen higher education institutions and coaching centres along with schools for classes 9-12 from February 7. (Photo by Raj K Raj / Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The statement came from a government lawyer when a division bench of chief justice Alok Aradhe and justice Makarand Karnik was hearing a plea by city resident Bhagwanji Raiyani for implementation of earlier orders of the court.

“This court had earlier appointed an expert committee to consider the issue and directed the state government to come up with a policy. An ordinance was promulgated in this regard by the state earlier, but it has lapsed since then. However, there is still no statewide policy in place,” Raiyani told the court on Tuesday. “Regular teachers employed in aided schools, government schools and colleges are giving more time and attention to students in coaching classes at the cost of their duties in schools,” he added.

The Maharashtra Ordinance no. XXII of 2000 was meant to regulate the conduct of coaching classes in the state, he said. The court was informed that since no law followed the ordinance, it lapsed. As per a Government Resolution dated January 4, 2017, a committee chaired by the director of education was appointed to bring in a law to regulate classes.

In this backdrop, the court asked the government lawyer when the state is coming up with a policy. A state government lawyer responded saying that a “bill will be tabled at the legislative assembly in July (monsoon session),” while conceding that there were directions from the court earlier and that the ordinance that was earlier promulgated had lapsed.

Raiyani has been petitioning the high court for curbing the menace of coaching classes since 1990. The high court had issued directions to the state government in 2008 and 2018 for framing a policy regulating coaching classes. However, the directions were not followed through.