Poor children move Delhi HC for free winter uniforms

A group of students, from poor and disadvantaged sections, Tuesday approached the Delhi High Court against a city school for its failure to provide free books and uniform to them.

The plea filed by nine students of Bal Bharti School, Rohini area asked the court to direct the school to provide free books, uniforms and writing materials to kids and continue providing these entitl ements until they complete their education in the school.

The plea filed through advocate Khagesh Jha said that the school was allotted government land on concessional rates and has to admit 25 percent of the students from the economic weaker section (EWS) and disadvantaged groups (DG).

It also noted that under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, schools have to provide free books and uniforms to children from these categories.

The children who approached the court were admitted in the school under EWS and DG category in this session.

The plea said that the school admitted the students after direction from Directorate of Education (DoE) but refused to provide free books, uniform and other study materials despite the clear provisions for providing the same.

It said that the students continued their study by wearing old uniforms meant for summer which they had purchased themselves few months back. The parents requested the school authority and DoE to provide free winter uniform but their grievances have not been addressed.

The school authority informed the parents of students here that the session is going to end after few month and they will provide the books and uniform in next session, said the plea, adding that some of the parents somehow managed books and uniform by taking loans from some relatives.

The plea also sought direction to the DoE to initiate appropriate action against the school for their failure to comply with the provisions of RTE Act, 2009, and Delhi RTE Rules, 2011. It also asked DoE to frame a grievance adressal mechanism to address the grievance of the parents in urgent and time bound manner.