Court stays Maharashtra’s 1-km rule for RTE admissions

The court stayed a clause in the February 12 GR that restricts admissions under the RTE quota to a one-kilometre radius of a student’s residence

Mumbai: The Bombay high court’s Nagpur bench on Monday stayed a clause in the February 12 government resolution (GR) that restricts admissions under the Right to Education (RTE) 25% quota to a one-kilometre radius of a student’s residence. The RTE quota is for economically underprivileged schoolchildren.

Bombay high court’s Nagpur bench on Monday stayed a clause in the February 12 General Resolution (GR) that restricts admissions under the RTE 25% quota to a one-kilometre radius of a student’s residence. ((PIC FOR REPRESENTATION))

The state government will present its arguments before the court on Tuesday. The further course of the admission process will depend on the court’s next order after hearing the government’s side. The admission process began on February 20, and March 10 is the last day for applications.

RTE admissions till last year were allowed within a three-kilometre radius of a student’s residence. Due to the new restriction, applications have dropped by over 100,000—across the state, the education department received only 1,83,093 applications till March 9 as compared to 3,05,000 the previous year. The decline is also visible in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, which usually get the highest number of applications. Mumbai has received only 6,927 applications as against 13,166 last year.

The writ petition was filed by the Akhil Bhartiya Samajwadi Adhyapak Sangh along with Shankar Atram, a Scheduled Tribe parent from Chandrapur district, who said he could not apply for admission for his son under the RTE quota because there was no eligible private unaided school within one kilometre of his residence.

Mukund Kirdat of the AAP Parents Association said that the one-kilometre condition had made it difficult for parents to choose schools in their preferred areas. “Since only schools within one kilometre are shown on the website, many parents are unable to submit applications. This has significantly affected the total number of applications,” he said. “After the court decision, the state should extend the application period and immediately remove the restrictive condition and restore the radius to 3 km.”

Shankar Atram, a parent belonging to the scheduled tribe from Chandrapur district, who also filed a similar petition, said, ‘We welcome the Bombay High Court’s stay on the one-kilometre restriction and the 10-school cap for RTE admissions. Earlier, I was unable to apply for my child’s admission because no schools were within one-kilometre of our home. The order gives hope that children from tribal, rural, and disadvantaged backgrounds will now have a fair chance to access education under the RTE Act.”