'Tripura schools not complying with 25% quota for poor kids'

AGARTALA: Over the past nine years, 27,000 underprivileged children have been denied admission to private schools, in violation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the Tripura government said.
Under the RTE Act, private schools have to set aside 25% of their seats for underprivileged children living in the vicinity of the school. The expenses are borne by the state government and later reimbursed by the Union HRD ministry.
Warning 335 private schools that have not met these requirements, state education minister Ratan Lal Nath said, "The government and its administration did not bother to ensure the admission of poor students into posh schools, despite knowing what the provisions are.Neither the government nor the school authorities took any steps to comply with the provision of RTE Act. As a result, both the schools and the children were deprived of the callous action of the administration. We have taken the matter very seriously."
The education department has been asked to identify officials who have been inactive and allowed this to continue for nine years. "All private schools have been asked to ensure the admission of 25% of underprivileged students from the next academic session as per the rules. They have been warned to be careful about compliance of the directions of central and state government besides court orders," Nath added.
He further stated that the schools would not have incurred any "loss of business" even if they admitted the poor students, as whatever be the fees annually incurred per students were to be paid by the government.