Tough yardstick for govt to counter: Petitioners

Professionals and activists in Maharashtra win PIL against RTE rule changes, ensuring free education for one lakh children.

MUMBAI: “Right from the beginning of the proceedings, the CJ said that this was not just a PIL but one that involves an overwhelming public interest,” said Prof Sudhir Paranjape of the CPI(M). “That was the yardstick the government had to counter.”

Educationist and member of the Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ) Shabbir Deshmukh, one of the petitioner in the case, said he was “99 % sure” of the win

Prof Paranjape is part of the political party’s Anudanit Shiksha Bachao Samiti, which works for the cause of public funded education, and is one of the petitioners against Maharashtra government’s change in RTE rules.

Educationist and member of the Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ) Shabbir Deshmukh, another petitioner in the case, said he was “99 % sure” of the win. “This case involved the right to education of one lakh children across Maharashtra. Our Constitution had mandated that the state must provide free education to everyone till the age of 18. It took 59 years after the Constitution was adopted for the RTE Act to be passed, that too only for children aged between 6-14.”

Deshmukh, who runs a school for underprivileged children in Kurla, has witnessed the positive impact of the 2009 RTE Act. “Children of disadvantaged families who have studied in good schools, thanks to this act, have managed to get good jobs which they would not have got otherwise,” he said, adding that he was shocked by the government’s February notification. Soon he was approached by concerned parents of children, following which MPJ gave memorandums to Zilla Parishads and Collectors, but received no response.

The RTE Act also mandates that the government must reimburse private schools with fees for children admitted under the Act. Through this notification, said Deshmukh, the government was not only wriggling out of its responsibility but also helping private schools, run by “corporates and politicians to profit from education without fulfilling their duty to impart quality education to children of disadvantaged families”. Hence, he decided to file a writ petition.

PILs and writ petitions were filed across Maharashtra and clubbed together.

Immediately after the Bombay high court’s judgment on Friday, Deshmukh filed a caveat in the Supreme Court anticipating that the Maharashtra government would appeal against it.

“We are very happy that deserving students will now get admission in schools of their choice,” said Prof Paranjape, acknowledging the “marvellous arguments” by senior advocates Mihir Desai, Gayatri Singh and their teams.

“Take a look around the world – in the erstwhile Soviet Union, education was free right up to college. The east European countries who were once part of the USSR have continued with this, because the view that education is a fundamental right has become ingrained in their citizens. I hope we can do the same here,” said the professor.