Parambans S Romana asks CM to direct YPS schools run by his family to return excess fee charged by them
Says YAD will take legal recourse and also launch a public movement along with parents if govt does not take corrective steps immediately
Chandigarh, July 13, 2020: Youth Akali Dal (YAD) President Parambans Singh Romana today asked chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to stop private schools from indulging in brazen loot by charging unjustified fee from students even as he announced to take legal recourse as well as launch a mass movement to stop school managements from fleecing parents during a time of pandemic.
In a statement here, Mr Parambans Romana also advised the chief minister not to indulge in doublespeak. He said on the one hand Capt Amarinder Singh was saying it was unjust to take fee from children who were not attending school while on the other hand schools being run by his family were charging fee much over that which was mandated by the Punjab and Haryana high court. He said besides admission fee and tuition fee mandated by the court, the YPS school managements at Mohali and Patiala had charged students bus fee, sports fee, extracurricular charges and even hostel charges.
Asking the chief minister whom he was trying to fool through his statements which smacked of hypocrisy, the YAD President said the YPS management had become a symbol of fee loot and that if he was really concerned about the welfare of students he should direct the YPS authorities to return all excess fee charged by them. “The Congress government should also undertake to deposit the admission and tuition fee of all children whose parents’ income has reduced during the lockdown”. He said the chief minister had given a relief of Rs 676 crore to liquor contractors and Rs 150 crore to sand miners who were not in need of any relief. He said school children whose parents could not afford the high fee structure of private schools needed urgent help and the government should not shirk away from this responsibility.
Mr Romana said the YAD was in the process of reaching out to Parent Associations across the State and would soon come up with a programme to ensure undue fee was not taken by private school managements. He said SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal had given clear instructions to take all steps needed in this regard be it legal recourse or a mass movement along with parents. He said the YAD understood the need for safety but it would be forced to start an agitation if the Congress government continued to turn a blind eye to the suffering of children studying in private schools.
The YAD President also pointed out that the Congress government had played a friendly match with private school managements in court and had allowed them to have their way by putting up a weak defense deliberately. “Now it is up to the government to take corrective action immediately or be ready for an agitation”, he added.