Sisodia tells education department to clear school admission for Pakistani girl

NEW DELHI: Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has asked Delhi’s education department to relax rules and give admission to a Pakistani immigrant who has been struggling

NEW DELHI: Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has asked Delhi’s education department to relax rules and give admission to a Pakistani immigrant who has been struggling to secure school admission due to lack of required documents.

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16-year-old Madhu came to India came to India with her mother, siblings, uncle and cousins two years ago, from Pakistan’s Punjab province.

Authorities at the co-ed senior secondary school in Sanjay Colony refused to enroll her in the ninth standard, as she did not have the documents required to complete formalities.

The girl then wrote to Kejriwal asking him to intervene. She also wrote to the deputy CM, requesting him to facilitate her admission on humanitarian grounds.

Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj took note of the reports of Madhu’s struggle to secure admission and raised the issue with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Approving the request, Sisodia said in his letter: “Due to peculiar circumstances, the girl is not in possession of any school leaving certificate or date of birth certificate. She wants to study and on humanitarian grounds it is my considered opinion that we need to walk extra mile to accommodate her”.

“To accommodate Madhu’s request, the government can consider relaxing whatever rules and regulations, if they come in way of her joining our school,” he added.

“Accordingly, admission to Madhu may immediately be provided at any of our government schools located in Sanjay Colony, Bhati Mines, Fatehpur Beri, New Delhi. She would also be given necessary books and uniform and we may facilitate whatever is required for the girl to study in our school,” the letter stated.