Parents throng a few schools, EWS seats go vacant elsewhere

Posted: Jun 30, 2012 at 0248 hrs IST 

Only about 40 per cent of seats reserved for the economically weaker section (EWS) in schools had been filled until June 22, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) school board officials said.

One reason for seats lying vacant is the strong preference among EWS parents for only a few English-medium schools, board officials who carried out a survey last week said. Until the end of the week, only about 3,000 of the 7,361 seats reserved under the 25 per cent EWS quota had been filled, they said.

The parents’ insistence on admitting their wards only to a few schools had resulted in a skew with extra pressure on these schools while seats went abegging in other private schools, the officials said.

“Parents are thronging only a few famous English-medium schools under the quota. It is putting an unnecessary burden on these schools,” Subhash Swami, assistant administrative officer of the school board and project officer of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, said.

“We will get the latest figures about vacant seats in the meeting to be held on Saturday to sort out these issues regarding the implementation of the Right to Education,” Swami said.

Parents were finding ways around the provision in the RTE Act giving preference to children of residents in the school’s neighbourhood, the official said. “Even if the parents do not have a ration card to prove that the family lives in the neighbourhood of the school, they often make a claim by obtaining a document to show that they were staying on rent in the locality,” Swami said.

Seats were vacant also because many parents were simply not approaching schools to claim seats under the EWS quota, Swami said. “Very few parents have approached us complaining that a private school has denied them admission under the EWS quota. If they approach us we can take action against the school and make them admit EWS students,” he said.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/parents-throng-a-few-schools-ews-seats-go-vacant-elsewhere/968555/

Poor kid gets into pvt school, but two years later

Ashpreet Sethi, New Delhi, Jun 27, 2012, DHNS :

A parent who had been running around for the last two years for the admission of his child under the economically weaker section category has finally managed it. His son will now join class 1 at  Bal Bharati Public School, Pusa Road. 

Ashok Kumar had applied in over 50 schools last year to get admission for his son in a private school near Karol Bagh, where he lives. 

However, he did not succeed at any of the schools as they claimed there were no vacant seats under the EWS category.

“I wrote letters to over 50 schools last year requesting them to admit my ward. However, nobody replied. When I approached the schools some denied that there were seats, while some did not even speak to me,” Kumar said.   

However, after the High Court’s order to fill vacant seats under the EWS category this year, the directorate of education asked all private schools to take EWS admissions depending on the number of vacancies.

Bal Bharati had over 100 applications for the one EWS seat and Kunal Kumar happened to be the lucky one.  

For seven-year-old Kunal it is a joyous moment. “My school is huge and I always wanted to study in a school like this,” he said.

Ashok said he had applied to over 60 schools this year too. 

The DoE has given two days to schools for conducting draws and to admit students under the EWS category to ensure that children attend classes as soon as schools reopen.  

Over 200 private schools in Delhi held draws for EWS admissions on Wednesday. Rest of the schools will conduct draws on Thursday.

 Breaking rules

While most schools successfully held the draw and gave admission to several children, one institution, Prabhu Dayal Public School in Shalimar Bagh, refused to hold the draw despite DoE’s instructions.

A parent made several visits to the school and the area education officer’s office to get his ward’s admission done but the school refused to abide by DoE’s order. 

Authorities even threatened the parent and asked him to leave the school premises. When contacted, the authorities refused to comment. 

शिक्षा से संबंधित योजनाओं की राष्ट्रीय निगरानी समिति की प्रथम बैठक

अनुसूचित जाति/ अनुसूचित जनजाति तथा निशक्त जनों की शिक्षा से संबंधित योजनाओं की राष्ट्रीय निगरानी समिति की पहली बैठक केन्द्रीय मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्री श्री कपिल सिब्बल की अध्यक्षता में 27 जून2012 को दिल्ली के विज्ञान भवन में आयोजित की गयी। राष्ट्रीय निगरानी समिति का गठन अनुसूचित जाति/ अनुसूचित जनजाति तथा निशक्त जनों की शिक्षा से संबंधित सभी मुद्दों पर सरकार को सलाह देने के लिए मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्रालय द्वारा पहली बार किया गया है। इसके अतिरिक्त राष्ट्रीय निगरानी समिति मंत्रालय द्वारा इस उद्देश्य से आरम्भ की गयी विभिन्न योजनाओं के अनुपालन की समीक्षा करेगी।

अनुसूचित जाति/ अनुसूचित जनजाति तथा निशक्त जनों की शिक्षा से संबंधित योजनाओं की राष्ट्रीय निगरानी समिति की पहली बैठक. छाया : जोगिन्दर डोगरा

बैठक में मानव संसाधन विकास राज्‍य मंत्री श्री ई अहमद और डॉ डी पुरन्देश्वरी, कुछ चुने हुए राज्यों के शिक्षा मंत्री, सासंद, सचिव (एसई एण्ड एल) श्रीमति अंशु वैश्य, सचिव (उच्च शिक्षा), श्री अशोक ठाकुर, राष्ट्रीय निगरानी समिति के सदस्य, प्रसिद्ध शिक्षाविद, नागरिक समाज संगठनों के प्रतिनिधि तथा केन्द्र और राज्य सरकारों के वरिष्ठ अधिकारी मौजूद थे।

अपने प्रारंभिक संबोधन में मंत्री महोदय ने कहा कि हम सभी मानव के व्यक्तिगत विकास तथा सामाजिक तथा आर्थिक प्रगति और राष्ट्र निर्माण में शिक्षा के महत्व से अवगत हैं। उन्होंने कहा कि अच्छी शिक्षा प्राप्त आबादी, तथा ज्ञान और कौशल से पर्याप्त रूप से सक्षम लोग न केवल आर्थिक प्रगति के लिए आवश्यक हैं बल्कि यह समावेशी विकास की पूर्व शर्त भी है क्योंकि शिक्षित और कौशल प्राप्त लोग ही विकास द्वारा प्रदत्‍त रोजगार के अवसर का लाभ उठा सकते हैं। शिक्षा तक सबकी पहुंच बनाना समान अवसर प्रदान करने की पूर्व अपेक्षित शर्त है और इसीलिए अनुसूचित जाति और जनजाति तथा निशक्त जनों की इसमें भागीदारी समावेशी विकास को वास्तविक बनाने के लिए आवश्यक है।

राष्ट्रीय निगरानी समिति के विभिन्न सदस्यों ने इस समिति का गठन पहली बार किये जाने संबंधी पहल के लिए मंत्री महोदय को बधाई दी और कहा कि यह अनुसूचित जाति, अनुसूचित जनजाति और निशक्त जन वर्गों के बच्चों के शैक्षिक विकास की ओर ध्यान देने में बड़ी  भूमिका निभाएगा।

बैठक में विचार-विमर्श के बाद तय किया गया कि मानव संसाधन विकास राज्य मंत्री़ डॉ. डी पुरन्‍देश्‍वरी की अध्‍यक्षता में एक स्‍थायी समिति बनाई जाए, जो अनुसूचित जाति/अनुसूचित जनजाति तथा निशक्‍तजनों के शिक्षा अवसरों की लक्षित योजनाओं की समीक्षा करे तथा गुण्‍वत्‍तापूर्ण समावेशी शिक्षा तक उनकी पहुंच बनाने के उपाय सुझाएं। यह भी निर्णय लिया गया कि अनुसूचित जाति/अनुसूचित जनजाति तथा निशक्‍तजनों के लिए कार्यबल का गठन किया जाए। प्रत्‍येक कार्यबल विशेष रूप से निम्‍नलिखित बातों पर ध्‍यान केन्द्रित करेगी :

1. अनुसूचित जाति/अनुसूचित जनजाति तथा निशक्‍तजन वर्गों के लिए मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्रालय की योजनाओं की समीक्षा करना

2. इन वर्गों के बच्‍चों के प्राथमिक, माध्‍यमिक तथा उच्‍च शिक्षा स्‍तर पर पढ़ाई छोड़ने के कारणों का पता लगाना

3. अनुसूचित जाति/अनुसूचित जनजाति तथा निशक्‍तजन वर्गों को लक्षित मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्रालय की योजनाओं की व्‍यक्तिगत तथा वित्‍तीय प्रगति की निगरानी व्‍यवस्‍था के उपाय सुझाना

4. मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्रालय की योजनाओं को लागू करने के तौर-तरीके सुझाना।

5. इन वर्गों के बच्‍चों की शिक्षा को बढ़ावा देने के उपाय सुझाना, जिसमें मौजूदा योजनाओं में सुधार तथा नई योजनाओं के प्रस्‍ताव भी शामिल है

6. सभी स्‍तरों पर बालिकाओं का सशक्तिकरण करना

7. अनुसूचित जाति/अनुसूचित जनजाति तथा निशक्‍तजनों के शैक्षिक विकास से संबंधित मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्रालय तथा अन्‍य सभी मंत्रालयों की विभिन्‍न योजनाओं में तालमेल स्‍थापित करना

8. और अन्‍य मुद्दे जो कार्यबल प्रासंगिक समझता हो

सभी कार्यबलों में राष्‍ट्रीय निगरानी समिति के सदस्‍य शामिल होंगे और वे संबंधित क्षेत्रों के विशेषज्ञों को भी इसमें सम्मिलित करेंगे।

कार्यबल भारत सरकार के अन्‍य संबंधित मंत्रालयों तथा राज्‍य सरकारों से भी बातचीत करेगा, ताकि योजनाओं में सुमेल सुनिश्चित किया जा सके, खासतौर पर छात्रवृत्ति तथा छात्रावास सुविधा के संदर्भ में। इन कार्यबलों के अलावा कुछ खास विषयों के लिए भी कार्यबल गठित करने का निर्णय लिया गया। ये मुद्दे निम्‍नलिखित हैं :

1. निशक्‍तजनों के लिए पेशेवर शिक्षा तथा कौशल विकास का प्रावधान
2. अनुसूचित जाति/जनजाति तथा निशक्‍तजन वर्गों से उच्‍च गुणवत्‍तापूर्ण शिक्षक प्रौन्‍नत और विकसित करना

कार्यबल, स्‍थायी समिति को छह महीने के अंदर अपनी रिपोर्ट पेश करेंगे। स्‍थायी समिति समय-समय पर कार्यबलों को निर्देश और सुझाव देती रहेगी।

यह भी फैसला किया गया कि अनुसूचित जाति, जनजाति तथा निशक्‍तजनों से संबंधित राष्‍ट्रीय निगरानी समिति एक स्‍थायी संस्‍था होगी।

CIC, better not become Toothless

Shailesh Gandhi

As Central Information Commissioners presiding over appeals on the Right to Information Act, my colleagues and I have the same conditions of service and salaries as Supreme Court judges . And yet , on several occasions, public authorities do not obey the orders we pass. When they are faced with action for noncompliance, they rush to the High Court and obtain a stay on our order. My question is simple. Long after the deadline for complying with our order has passed, should a person or organisation that has flouted our order get a stay from any court?

Shouldn’t there be some penalty for violating the orders we pass? If not, what value are our orders? Those who violate our orders get legal protection. If the orders of the Central Information Commission can be flouted so blatantly, should not the service conditions and salaries of the Central Information Commissioners be equal to that of a session’s judge?

This is not simply a problem unique to the Central Information Commission. This is the case with orders given by many other statutory authorities as well. For a long while, I have been thinking about this convoluted practice by which an order passed by an authority is first violated and then stayed in the High Court. If anyone,-a citizen, institution or government department,-does not obey a legally valid order, it should invite some punishment. Should those who violate legal orders be allowed to go scot free? When the Court grants a stay on our original order after the order has been violated, it amounts to providing the fig leaf of legal sanctity to an illegal action. When granting such stays, the High Court usually does not give any reasons for doing so.

This means that there is no evidence of any justification for protecting those who defy the law and act in a lawless manner. The lawyers who help obtain a stay in the High Courts are known to charge a whopping Rs 1-5 lakh for a single appearance. I strongly feel that any action by an instrument of the State which diminishes respect for the rule of law must be stopped. What is the legal basis is as laid down by the Supreme Court for these postulates? I trawled through several Supreme Court orders and found that the country’s apex court appears to be similar to my contention. Take for instance a Supreme Court order passed in August 2004 which says, “If any party concerned is aggrieved by the order which in its opinion is wrong or against rules or its implementation is neither practicable nor feasible, it should always either approach t h e Court that passed  the order or  invoke jurisdiction of the Appellate Court. Rightness or wrongness of the order can not be urged in contempt proceedings. Right or wrong the order has to be obeyed. Flouting an order of the Court would render the party liable for contempt. While dealing with an application for contempt the Court can not traverse beyond the order, noncompliance of which is all eged. In other words, it cannot say what should not have been done or what should have been done. It cannot traverse beyond the order. It can not test correctness or otherwise of the order or give additional direction or delete any direction. That would be exercising review jurisdiction while dealing with an application for initiation of contempt proceedings. The same would be impermissible and indefensible.” I think it is logical to deduce from this, that if flouting an order invites contempt proceedings, a stay on the order, obtained after flouting it, has no legal basis. Such a stay is not in the interest of nurturing respect for the law. Another Supreme Court order passed in 2002 states almost the same thing. Eight years ago, Justice SN Variava, in the Supreme Court made it clear that unless there is a stay obtained from a higher forum, the mere act of filing an appeal or revision will not entitle a person who is required to pay the penalty to not comply with the order of the lower forum. I think it’s self evident that no organ of the State can allow or encourage the defiance of orders of a statutory authority. If this is allowed to happen, it will be impossible for the state to function. If it makes no difference whether an order passed by bodies like the CIC is followed or flouted, what purpose does it serve to pass orders in the first place? Should the Nation even have such bodies?

I hope that, in a democracy like India, there can be a public discussion on this matter and the judiciary would consider not granting stays on orders when anyone approaches it after defying a legally valid order. If there are strong reasons for granting such a stay, they must be provided in the order. Our present practice in the Courts favours those who can spend money on hiring lawyers. Perhaps we could change it to favour the rule of law. Only respect for Courts will not make a better law-abiding Nation; respect for the law will.

Police Beat Demonstrators Demanding Dalit Rights in India

Isha Soni | Jun 25, 2012 3:32pm EDT | 1min:00sec Police in Rajkot, the fourth largest city in India's western state of Gujarat state, on Monday (June 25) beat protesters demanding justice for a Dalit who was murdered the previous day. The violence occurred a few days after a clash between Dalits, "untouchables" on the lower end of India's social scale, and members of Gujarat's Bharwad Hindu caste community. Gunabhai Rathod, who had been arrested for his part in last week's clashes, was killed by unknown assailants on Sunday (June 24) after he was released from custody. During Rathod's funeral Dalits and Bharwad community members clashed. Police officials rushed to the scene and baton charged the crowd and fired around 17 rounds of tear gas shells. Two police vehicles were damaged and five policemen were injured and hospitalized, reports said.

MLAs demand immediate removal of high tension wires

Press Trust of India / New Delhi June 05, 2012, 21:45

Delhi Government today came under attack from Congress as well as BJP MLAs in Delhi Assembly for "failing" to remove high tension power lines in various residential areas.

Terming it as a major safety issue, a number of MLAs cutting across party lines demanded immediate removal of the high-tension lines from residential area citing several mishaps.

Power Minister Harun Yusuf said unauthorised structures have come up beneath major power transmission lines and there was a need to remove such constructions.

He, however, said that Government would try its best to remove transmission lines which pass through residential localities.

The Delhi Transco Ltd (DTL), which maintains the power transmission network in the city, had written to the city government several times as well as to the MCD to remove all unauthorised structures under the high-voltage power lines.

MLAs Naresh Gaud, Kulwant Rana, Satprakash Rana and Virender Singh said high tension power lines have criss crossed many residential areas in their constituencies which need to be removed urgently considering the safety issue.

In last one year, DTL had served notice to around 5,000 people to remove unauthorised structures.

Power department officials said unauthorised constructions not only create hindrance in efficient functioning of transmission system but often damage the transmission lines and other electrical installations.

As per electricity act, a 35 meter (17.5 meter on each side of transmission line) 'Right of Way' is required for a 220 KV transmission line and while for a 400 KV line, 52 meter of space (26 meter on each side) is required to ensure proper maintenance of the transmission lines and safety of general public.

http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/news/mlas-demand-immediate-removalhigh-tension-wires/17405/

Effects of High Voltage Transmission Lines on Humans and Plants

 Introduction:

By increasing population of the world, towns are expanding, many buildings construct near high voltage overhead power transmission lines. The increase of power demand has increased the need for transmitting huge amount of power over long distances. Large transmission lines configurations with high voltage and current levels generate large values of electric and magnetic fields stresses which affect the human being and the nearby objects located at ground surfaces. This needs to be investigating the effects of electromagnetic fields near the transmission lines on human health.

The electricity system produces extremely low frequency electromagnetic field which comes under Non ionizing radiations which can cause health effects. Apart from human effect, the electrostatic coupling & electromagnetic interference of high voltage transmission lines have impact on plants and telecommunication equipments mainly operating in frequency range below UHF.

IS Power Line EMF safe? This is the controversy Discussion directly eludes on Government Regulation policy and Power Company. There are lots of supporting documents and research paper in favor and criticize this arguments.

What is The Electric and Magnetic fields:

• Electric and magnetic fields, often referred to as electromagnetic fields or EMF, occur naturally and as a result of the Power generation, Power Transmission, Power distribution and use of electric power.
• EMF is fields of force and is created by electric voltage and current. They occur around electrical devices or whenever power lines are energized.
• Electric fields are due to voltage so they are present in electrical appliances and cords whenever the electric cord to an appliance is plugged into an outlet (even if the appliance is turned off).
• Electric fields (E) exist whenever a (+) or (-) electrical charge is present. They exert forces on other charges within the field. Any electrical wire that is charged will produce an electric field (i.e. Electric field produces charging of bodies, discharge currents, biological effects and sparks). This field exists even when there is no current flowing. The higher the voltage, the stronger is electric field at any given distance from the wire.
• The strength of the electric field is typically measured in volts per meter (V/m) or in kilovolts per meter (kV/m). Electric fields are weakened by objects like trees, buildings, and vehicles. Burying power lines can eliminate human exposure to electric fields from this source.
• Magnetic fields result from the motion of the electric charge or current, such as when there is current flowing through a power line or when an appliance is plugged in and turned on. Appliances which are plugged in but not turned on do not produce magnetic fields.
• Magnetic field lines run in circles around the conductor (i.e. produces magnetic induction on objects and induced currents inside human and animal (or any other conducting) bodies causing possible health effects and a multitude of interference problems). The higher the current, the greater the strength of the magnetic field.
• Magnetic fields are typically measured in tesla (T) or more commonly, in gauss (G) and milli gauss (mG). One tesla equals 10,000 gauss and one gauss equals 1,000 milli gauss.
• The strength of an EMF decreases significantly with increasing distance from the source.
• The Strength of an electric field is proportional to the voltage of the source. Thus, the electric fields beneath high voltage transmission lines far exceed those below the lower voltage distribution lines. The magnetic field strength, by contrast, is proportional to the current in the lines, so that a low voltage distribution line with a high current load may produce a magnetic field that is as high as those produced by some high voltage transmission lines.
• In fact, electric distribution systems account for a far higher proportion of the population’s exposure to magnetic fields than the larger and more visible high voltage transmission lines.
• Electrical field: the part of the EMF that can easily be shielded.
• Magnetic field: part of the EMF that can penetrate stone, steel and human flesh. In fact, when it comes to magnetic fields, human flesh and bone has the same penetrability as air!
• Both fields are invisible and perfectly silent: People who live in an area with electric power, some level of artificial EMF is surrounding them.
• The magnetic field strength produced from a transmission line is proportional to: load current, phase to phase spacing, and the inverse square of the distance from the line.
• Many previous works studied the effect of different parameters on the produced magnetic field such as: the distance from the line, the conductor height, line shielding and transmission line configuration and compaction.

Electric and Magnetic Field (EMF) Effects

• Extremely high voltages in EHV lines cause electrostatic effects, where as short circuit currents & line loading currents are responsible for electromagnetic effects. The effect of these electrostatic fields is seen prominent with living things like humans, plants, animals along with vehicles, fences & buried pipes under & close to these lines.

 1)   EMF Effects Human beings:

• The human body is a composed of some biological materials like blood, bone, brain, lungs, muscle, skin etc. The permeability of human body is equals to permeability of air but within a human body has different electromagnetic values at a certain frequency for different material.
• The human body contains free electric charges (largely in ion-rich fluids such as blood and lymph) that move in response to forces exerted by charges on and currents flowing in nearby power lines. The processes that produce these body currents are called electric and magnetic induction.
• In electric induction, charges on a power line attract or repel free charges within the body. Since body fluids are good conductors of electricity, charges in the body move to its surface under the influence of this electric force. For example, a positively charged overhead transmission line induces negative charges to flow to the surfaces on the upper part of the body. Since the charge on power lines alternates from positive to negative many times each second, the charges induced on the body surface alternate also. Negative charges induced on the upper part of the body one instant flow into the lower part of the body the next instant. Thus, power-frequency electric fields induce currents in the body (Eddy Current) as well as charges on its surface.

• The currents induced in the body by magnetic fields are greatest near the periphery of the body and smallest at the center of the body.
• It is believed that, the magnetic field might induce a voltage in the tissue of human body which causes a current to flow through it due to its conductivity of around them.
• The magnetic field has influence on tissues in the human body. These influences may be beneficial or harmful depending upon its nature.
• The magnitude of surface charge and internal body currents that are induced by any given source of power-frequency fields depends on many factors. These include the magnitude of the charges and currents in the source, the distance of the body from the source, the presence of other objects that might shield or concentrate the field, and body posture, shape, and orientation. For this reason the surface charges and currents which a given field induces are very different for different Human and animals.
• When a person who is isolated from ground by some insulating material comes in close proximity to an overhead transmission line, an electrostatic field is set in the body of human being, having a resistance of about 2000 ohms.
• When the same person touches a grounded object, it will discharge through his body causing a large amount of discharge current to flow through the body. Discharge currents from 50-60 Hz electromagnetic fields are weaker than natural currents in the body, such as those from the electrical activity of the brain and heart.
• For human beings the limit for undisturbed field is 15 kV/m, R.M.S., to experience possible shock. When designing a transmission lines this limit is not crossed, in addition to this proper care has been taken in order to keep minimum clearance between transmission lines.
• According to research and publications put out by the World Health Organization(WHO), EMF such as those from power lines, can also cause:

• Short term Health Problem

1. Headaches.
2. Fatigue
3.  Anxiety
4.  Insomnia
5.  Prickling and/or burning skin
6.  Rashes
7.  Muscle pain

•  Long term Health Problem:

• Following  serious health Problems may be arise due to EMF effects on human Body.

        (1) Risk of damaging DNA.

• Our body acts like an energy wave broadcaster and receiver, incorporating and responding to EMFs. In fact, scientific research has demonstrated that every cell in your body may have its own EMF, helping to regulate important functions and keep you healthy.
• Strong, artificial EMFs like those from power lines can scramble and interfere with your body’s natural EMF, harming everything from your sleep cycles and stress levels to your immune response and DNA!

      (2) Risk of Cancer

• After hundreds of international studies, the evidence linking EMFs to cancers and other health problems is loud and clear. High Voltage power lines are the most obvious and dangerous culprits, but the same EMFs exist in gradually decreasing levels all along the grid, from substations to transformers to homes.

       (3) Risk of Leukemia:

• Researchers found that children living within 650 feet of power lines had a 70% greater risk for leukemia than children living 2,000 feet away or more.(As per British Medical Journal, June, 2005).

        (4) Risk of Neurodegenerative disease:

• “Several studies have identified occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (EMF) as a potential risk factor for neuro degenerative disease.”(As per Epidemiology, 2003 Jul; 14(4):413-9).

       (5) Risk of Miscarriage:

• There is “strong prospective evidence that prenatal maximum magnetic field exposure above a certain level (possibly around 16 mG) may be associated with miscarriage risk.” (As per Epidemiology, 2002 Jan; 13(1):9-20)

2)   EMF Effects on Animals

• Many researchers are studying the effect of Electrostatic field on animals. In order to do so they keeps the cages of animals under high Electrostatic field of about 30 kV/m. The results of these Experiments are shocking as animals (are kept below high Electrostatic field their body acquires a charge & when they try to drink water, a spark usually jumps from their nose to the grounded Pipe) like hens are unable to pick up grain because of chattering of their beaks which also affects their growth.

3)   EMF Effects on Plant Life

• Most of the areas in agricultural and forest lands where high power transmission lines pass. The voltage level of high power transmission Lines are 400KV, 230KV, 110KV, 66KV etc. The electromagnetic field from high power transmission lines affects the growth of plants.
• Gradually increases or decreases and reaches to maximum current or minimum current and thereafter it starts to fall down to lowest current or raises to maximum current or a constant current. Again the current, it evinces with little fluctuations till the next day morning.
• Current in Power transmission lines varies according to Load (it depending upon the amount of electricity consumed by the consumers). Hence the effect of EMF (due to current flowing in the power lines) upon the growth of plants under the high power transmission lines remains unaltered throughout the year.
• From various practically study it was found that the response of the crop to EMF from 110 KV and 230 KV Power lines showed variations among themselves. Based on the results the growth characteristics like shoot length, root length, leaf area, leaf fresh weight, specific leaf weight, shoot/root ratio, total biomass content and total water content of the four crop plants were reduced significantly over the control plants.
• Similar trend were observed in the biochemical characteristics like chlorophyll.
• Reduced growth and physiological parameter was primarily due to the effect of reduced cell division and cell enlargement. Further the growth was stunted which may be due to poor action of hormones responsible for cell division and cell enlargement.
• The bio-chemical changes produced in this plant due to EMF stress quite obvious and it affects the production leading to economic loss.
• It is concluded that the reduced growth parameter shown in the crop plants would indicates that the EMF has exerted a stress on that plants and this EMF stress was quite obvious and it affects the production leading to economic loss. So further research activities are needed to safe guard plants from EMF stress.

4)   EMF Effects on Vehicles parked near Line

• When a vehicle is parked under high voltage transmission line an electrostatic field is developed in it. When a person who is grounded touches it a discharge current flows through the human being. In order to avoid this parking lots are located below the transmission lines the recommended clearance is 17 m for 345 kV and 20 m for 400 kV lines.

5)   EMF Effects  on Pipe Line/Fence/Cables:

• A fence, irrigation pipe, pipeline, electrical distribution line forms a conducting loops when it is grounded at both ends. The earth forms the other portion of the loop. The magnetic field from a transmission line can induce a current to flow in such a loop if it is oriented parallel to the line. If only one end of the fence is grounded, then an induced voltage appears across the open end of the loop. The possibility for a shock exists if a person closes the loop at the open end by contacting both the ground and the conductor.
• For fences, buried cables, and pipe lines proper care has been taken to prevent them from charging due to Electrostatic field. When using pipelines which are more than 3 km in length & 15 cm in Diameter they must be buried at least 30 laterally from the line center.

6)   EMF Effects on Maintenance Worker:

• For providing continuous and uninterrupted supply of electric power to consumers maintenance operations of power lines are often performed with systems energized or live.
•  This is live line maintenance or hot line maintenance. The electric fields and magnetic fields associated with these power lines may affect the health of live line workers. Its electric field and current densities affect the health of humans and cause several diseases by affecting majority parts of the human body. These electric field and current densities affects humans of all stages and causes short term diseases in them and sometimes death also.

Contradiction of EMF Effect on Human Health:

• There are two reasons why electromagnetic fields associated with power systems could pose no threat to human health.
• First, The EMF from power lines and appliances are of extremely low frequency and low energy. They are non-ionizing and are markedly different in frequency from ionizing radiation such as X-rays and gamma rays. As a comparison, transmission lines have a low frequency of 60Hz while television transmitters have higher frequencies in the 55 to 890 MHZ range. Microwaves have even higher frequencies, 1,000 MHZ and above. Ionizing radiation, such as X-rays and gamma rays, has frequencies above 1015 Hz. The energy from higher-frequency fields is absorbed more readily by biological material.  Microwaves can be absorbed by water in body tissues and cause heating which can be harmful, depending upon the degree of heating that occurs. X-rays have so much energy that they can ionize (form charged particles) and break up molecules of genetic material (DNA) and no genetic material, leading to cell death or mutation. In contrast, extremely low frequency EMF does not have enough energy to heat body tissues or cause ionization.
• Second, all cells in the body maintain large natural electric fields across their outer membranes. These naturally occurring fields are at least 100 times more intense than those that can be induced by exposure to common power-frequency fields. However, despite the low energy of power-frequency fields and the very small perturbations that they make to the natural fields within the body.
• When an external agent such as an ELF fields lightly perturbs a process in the cell, other processes may compensate for it so that there is no overall disturbance to the organism. Some perturbations may be within the ranges of disturbances that a system can experience and still function properly.
• During Research on health effects of electric and magnetic fields, it has come forward that electric field intensity exposure of about 1-10 mv/m in tissue interact with cells but not proved to be harmful. But strong fields cause harmful effects when their magnitude exceeds  stimulation thresholds for neural tissues (central nervous system and brain), muscle and heart

Surface Current Density(mA/m2)	Health Effect
<1	Absence of any established effects.
1 To 10	Minor biological effects.
10 To 100	Well established effects(a) Visual effect. (b) Possible nervous system effect
100 To 1000	Changes in central nervous System
>1000	Ventricular Fibrillation (Heart Condition 0. Health hazards.

• In India it is stipulated that electric field intensity should not exceed 4.16 kV/m and magnetic field intensity should not exceed 100μT in public areas.
• Even when effect is demonstrated consistently on the cellular level in laboratory experiments, it is hard to predict whether and how they will affect the whole organism. Processes at the individual cell level are integrated through complex mechanisms in the animal.

Mitigation of EMF Effect of Transmission Line:

1)    Line shielding:

• There are two basic 60-Hz magnetic field mitigation (reduction) methods: passive and active.
• Passive magnetic field mitigation includes rigid magnetic shielding with ferromagnetic and highly conductive materials, and the use of passive shield wires installed near transmission lines that generate opposing cancellation fields from electromagnetic induction.
• Active magnetic field mitigation uses electronic feedback to sense a varying 60-Hz magnetic field, then generates a proportionally opposing (nulling) cancellation field within a defined area (room or building) surrounded by cancellation coils. Ideally, when the two opposing 180-degree out- of-phase magnetic fields of equal magnitude intersect, the resultant magnetic field is completely cancelled (nullified). This technology has been successfully applied in both residential and commercial environments to mitigate magnetic fields from overhead transmission and distribution lines, and underground residential distribution (URD) lines.

2)    Line Configuration and Compaction

• Line compaction means that, bringing the conductors close together keeping the minimum (safe) phase-to-phase spacing constant. Keeping all the parameters the same and the only variable is the phase-to- phase spacing. The magnetic field is proportional to the dimensions of the phase-to-phase spacing.
• Other studies showed that, increasing the distance between phases by increasing the height of the central phase conductor above the level of the other phase conductors leads to the reduction of the peak value of the magnetic field.
• Reducing the phase-to-phase distance, leads to the decrease of the magnetic field. This reduction between phases is limited by the electrical insulation level between phases.
• (A) For single circuit lines, compaction causes a great reduction to the maximum magnetic field values. This reduction of magnetic field allows for lower conductor heights above the ground. This leads to transmit the same power on shorter towers. This gives a great reduction of the tower cost.
• (B) For double circuit lines, some studies showed that, the use of optimum phase arrangement causes a drastic reduction to the maximum magnetic field values for both conventional and compact lines i.e. with vertical conductor

3)    Grounding:

• Induced currents are always present in electric fields under transmission lines and will be present. However, there must be a policy to ground metal objects, such as fences, that are located on the right-of-way. The grounding eliminates these objects as sources of induced current and voltage shocks. Multiple grounding points are used to provide redundant paths for induced current flow and mitigate nuisance shocks.

4)    Providing Right of Way(R.O.W):

• Overhead transmission systems required strips of land to be designed as right-of-ways (R.O.W.). These strips of land are usually evaluated to decrease the effects of the energized line including magnetic and electric field effects.

5)    Maintaining Proper Clearance:

• Unlike fences or buildings, mobile objects such as vehicles and farm machinery cannot be grounded permanently. Limiting the possibility of induced currents from such objects to persons is accomplished by maintaining proper clearances for above-ground conductors tend to limit field strengths to levels that do not represent a hazard or nuisance.
•  Limiting access area by increasing conductor clearances in areas where large vehicles could be present.

 Conclusion:

Based on the review and analysis and other research projects it is of the opinion that there is no conclusive and convincing evidence that exposure to extremely low frequency EMF emanated from nearby high voltage Transmission lines is causally associated with an increased incidence of cancer or other detrimental health effects in humans. Even if it is assumed that there is an increased risk of cancer as implied in some epidemiological studies, the empirical relative risk appears to be fairly small in magnitude and the observed association appears to be tenuous. Although the possibility is still remain about the verse effect on health by EMF.

References:

• SSGBCOE&T, Electronics and Communication Engineering-Girish Kulkarni1, Dr.W.Z.Gandhare
• Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea-Sung-Hyuk Yim, Ji-Hoon Jeong.
• Electrical Engineering Department, Shoubra, Benha University, Cairo, Egypt- Nagat Mohamed Kamel Abdel-Gawad.
• Madurai Kamaraj University-S. Somasekaran.
• Electrical Engineering Department at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals- J. M. Bakhashwain, M. H. Shwehdi, U. M. Johar and A. A. AL-Naim.
• Dept. of Electrical Engineering. College of Engineering – University of Tikrit-Iraq- Ghanim Thiab Hasan, Kamil Jadu Ali, Mahmood Ali Ahmed.
• http://electricalnotes.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/effects-of-high-voltage-transmission-lines-on-humans-and-plants/

corruption

Counters(windows) system is a good tool for controlling corruption/trouble. It always wins over partiality, discriminations due to regionalism etc. It is found in residential colonies or offices where various activities like distribution, collection and similar type   are done through proper counters,   various type of  evils viz., partiality, bribery, discrimination, mismanagement of activities  etc., do vanish.

 In few cases where counter and queue system is not followed correctly different type of problems are found. For example :  it is found in  religious places like big temples people wait in long queues for Arti and Darshan . But disturbance starts when the door /gate opens because the timings are fixed limited(not 24 hrs. open). This type of arrangements should be changed. It is always possible to find correct procedure so that such big accumulation and sudden  movements are avoided and no body faces problem in these places.

Let's make it voluntary

Defining it as “digressing into a blind alley”, a senior columnist recently wrote in a national daily that the Supreme Court’s recent judgement on the Right to Education Act (RTE) was “flawed”. In April, the apex court, upheld the constitutional validity of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, and directed every school, including privately-run ones, to give free education to students from socially and economically backward classes from Class 1 till they reach the age of 14 years.


In fact, there are many educationists and NGOs who feel that such coercion will not work. Since the court’s verdict came after the schools had closed admissions for the 2012 session, the government should have publicly announced the reopening of the admission process and also publicised the verdict among the poor.


India’s education sector, be it for the rich or the poor, is dismal. While the rich demand quality and see it as a right since they can afford it, the poor are at a loss because they cannot pay for it. There are other problems in the sector as well: the rich can buy seats in elite schools and unfortunately, there are many people who don’t fall within the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category, but still hog the reserved seats meant for the poor thanks to money power. Then, even among the poor, only those who have proper documents can claim the benefits of free education.


There have been sporadic attempts by a few social activists to enumerate the enrollment of underprivileged students in Delhi schools. The Directorate of Education has also imposed timelines and procedures, seeking transparency on the induction of children under the EWS. Though it has taken the responsibility of announcing the availability of seats in schools in the respective zones, there was hardly much relief for children who had been left out of schools for one reason or the other.
In the first place, the trouble was not the availability but the lack of will to support the integration of poor students with the wealthy ones.


In the words of a teacher in one of the public schools: “The decision to allow the enrolment of poor students has to be a voluntary decision, rather than a coercive measure”. On the one hand, she added, the private schools face the wrath of parents when they change the fee structure and, on the other, is the diktat of the court.


Giving examples of children who were admitted in some of the premier schools in Delhi, she added that many of them have been integrated because the number is not very high now and they have been supported by a mentor organisation. It is important that voluntary organisations help the schools in this integration process. Business houses too, under their Corporate Social Responsibility programme must help out in this endeavour.


Sunita Palita is director, SAHAS India
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/ColumnsOthers/Let-s-make-it-voluntary/Article1-875104.aspx

No space for poor students?

Express news service : Wed Jun 20 2012, 01:19 hrs

With not many schools willing to implement RTE Act in its true spirit, the civic body education board says it will help children belonging to EWS get admitted to schools and at the same time it will derecognise schools that refuse to share the responsibility.

Despite SC ruling, most city schools reluctant to implement RTE Act

Even after the Supreme Court ruling on 25 per cent quota for students from economically weaker sections (EWS), its implementation in most of the city schools is still uncertain. While some schools have been claiming that their admission procedure is over, others are citing lack of infrastructure as reason for failing to accommodate additional students.

Madhura Kulkarni of Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya (NMV) said their classrooms that already have about 70 students will not be able to accommodate more. “Giving admissions to 25 per cent students from EWS is not feasible for us this year. We have many students who are from the ‘below poverty line’ bracket. We do not have the infrastructure to support more students,” said Kulkarni.

“We did get a few queries. As per the rule, they need to produce income certificate and also prove that they stay in the vicinity of the school. Once we verify all this, we can surely admit them,” said Nalini Sengupta, principal, Vidya Valley School.

Cambridge International School authority claims that they were not approached by anyone from the economically weaker section till they finished the admission process in January. School director Ram Raina said, “Though the school is not against the Act, some parents might have reservations about their child sharing a classroom with children from poorer families.” He added, “I can surely guide such parents but I can’t change their mindset.”

Since no such admission was sought at City International School, Kothrud, the school filled up its regular number of seats, said Principal Nirmal Waddan. He said the school welcomes the 25 per cent reservation but being a CBSE board, they had to begin the academic session in April and offer admission on first-come-first-serve basis.

Mrudula Mahajan, principal of D Y Patil School, Pimpri, said since they were permanently unaided school, the norm does not apply to them. “We have not yet received any government circular...There is still confusion about the issue. Also, since we are permanently unaided school, we believe the norm does not apply to our institution,” said Mahajan.

Teresa David, principal of Laxmanrao Apte Primary School, said the school already has many students that are from economically weaker section. “We have many slums in the vicinity, so we have many students from poor economic background. Many a times we try and help these students to pay the fees by getting financial aid from NGOs,” said David. However she said in absence of ‘clear instruction from the government’, no admission has officially been done under the 25 per cent quota for EWS section.

Usha Wag, primary school committee president, Huzurpaga School, said, “The RTE Act says that schools cannot have more than 50 students in a classroom. But if we take additional 25 per cent students, we will have to divide the class and get more teachers and classrooms which is very difficult at such a short notice.”

Deepa Kaul, principal of Dayanand Anglo Vernacular (DAV) school said no student from the EWS section had approached the school seeking admission. “Though the admissions for our entry level classes were were carried out in November last year, we are willing to admit students under RTE,” she said.

However, the education board has received complaints from many parents about schools that have been denying admissions to the students. A team of education officers from the PMC education board today visited Dastur Boys School after receiving complaint. Shubhangi Chavan of the education board said, “We visited the school to gather information about their status. They told us that they were a minority school but we told them that as they get funds for students’ books from the government, they will have to implement RTE Act.”

Activist Suresh Jain said, “We have received complaints about Dastur, Mount Carmel, Vidya Bhawan, St Anne’s School and St Mira’s. We are planning to meet the deputy director of education tomorrow and ask him to take action against them.”

Many schools implement the Act, calling it noble initiative

Not all schools are trying to get away from implementing the RTE Act. A handful of schools in the city is trying its best to accommodate as many such students as possible.

Anjali Mudholkar, headmistress, Progressive Education Society’s National Chemical Laboratory School, said at least 10 EWS students have been admitted this year. “Our admissions were closed by June 2, when the government resolution was announced. However, we wanted to accommodate at least a few students as this is a noble initiative. Till last year, we had been taking 120 students in Class I, but this year we’re hoping to take it to 140 to accommodate these kids. We will also try to take in a few of them in nursery,” she said.

She, however, expressed concern over whether schools will receive refund from the government for allowing a fee waiver to students. “If it turns out to be like the scholarships, where funds are released months later, then schools will find it difficult to continue the programme,” added Mudholkar.

Vaishali Namjoshi, principal, Dnan Prabodhini School, Nigdi, said the body that runs the school has been taking in EWS students long before SC made it mandatory. “We have always had such students in the schools with the help of our trust and other philanthropic institutions. But now we can increase the number as the government will give us about Rs 10,000 for each child. We have admitted eight such students in a batch of 100 and we’re getting more applications,” she added.

“We got just one such query and we were very happy to admit him,” said Lakshmi Kumar, director, The Orchid School. The school has put up notices in English and Marathi on its main entrance gate about its willingness to give admission to such students and a separate link on the school website about how they will implement the Act. “It is about national obligation and not personal choice,” says Kumar. However, she has concerns as well. “The Act is not clear about who will provide textbooks to these students or what books will be given to them,” she says.

Kalpana Agawane, principal of Ahilya Devi Primary School, said, “Our admissions are over, but we have given admission to students from EWS.”

Shishti Solkar & Ors vs Mahavir Sr.Model School & Ors on 23 December, 2011

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

Judgment reserved on: 14.9.2011

Judgment delivered on: 23.12.2011

W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011

SHISHTI SOLKAR & ORS. ......Petitioners Through: Mr. U.M. Tripathi, Adv.

Vs.

MAHAVIR SR.MODEL SCHOOL & ORS. ......Respondents Through: Mr. Rakesh Kumar Khanna, Sr. Advocate

With Ms. Seema Rao, Adv. for

respondents 1 and 2

Ms. Koplin Kaur proxy counsel for DOE.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KAILASH GAMBHIR

KAILASH GAMBHIR, J.

1. The petitioner no.1 who is a student of 10th standard and the petitioner no.2, the father of the petitioner no.1 have invoked the writ jurisdiction of this court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to seek directions to direct the respondent no.1/Mahavir Senior Model School and W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 1 of 20 the respondent no.2, the Manager of the said school to issue admit card of the petitioner no.1 for appearing in the Board Examination of 10th class commencing from 15th March, 2011. The petitioners also seek directions to direct the respondents 1 and 2 to grant entire fee concession to the petitioner no.1 for the academic session 2010-2011 and also for the future academic sessions.

2. The aforesaid directions have been sought by the petitioners based on the facts that the petitioner no.1 was admitted in the respondent no.1 school in the year 1999 in the nursery class and at present she is studying in the 10 th standard and was slated to appear in the forthcoming Board examination scheduled to be held from 15th March, 2011. The petitioner no.2 has claimed that he belongs to the economically weaker section of the society and also belongs to the scheduled castes category and thus his daughter is eligible for grant of fee concession . The petitioner no.2 has placed on record a copy of income certificate duly certified by the Office of the Deputy Commissioner (North West District) Delhi to show that his income is Rs.4,000/-. It W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 2 of 20 is also the case of the petitioners that looking into the financial condition of the petitioner no.2, the respondent no.1 school had granted fee concession in favour of the petitioner no.1 to the extent of 50% since 2004 to 2007-2008. The petitioners have further stated that in the year 2009-2010 they had applied for full fee concession in the category of EWS as per the circular issued by the Directorate of Education granting fee concession to those whose earning is up to Rs.40,000/- annually, but since the fee concession was not granted by the respondent nos. 1 and 2, the petitioners filed a writ petition bearing W.P.(C) No. 12775/2009 before this court and vide order dated 29.1.2010, the said petition filed by the petitioner was disposed of by this court in view of the statement made by the counsel for the respondents that they had already granted 50% concession in terms of Rule 158 of the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973. It is also the case of the petitioners that the petitioner no.1 was promoted in 10th class but her name was struck off from the roll of the school as she was in arrears of the school fee and because of the alleged illegal act of the respondents 1 and 2, the W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 3 of 20 petitioners preferred another writ petition bearing W.P.(C) No. 4707/2010 which was disposed of by this court vide order dated 6.12.2010 and while disposing of the said writ petition, this court left the option of the petitioners open to apply for claiming fee concession for the current academic year provided such an application is filed by the petitioner within a period of thirty days from the commencement of the then current academic session and in compliance of the said directions, the petitioners had applied for full fee concession for the present and future academic session. It is also the case of the petitioners that the said request made by the petitioners was rejected by the respondent no.1 school vide their letter dated 15.1.2011. It is also the case of the petitioners that even on payment of the arrears of the fee amount and of the current dues the respondent nos. 1 and 2 had withheld the admit card of the petitioner no.1 and being aggrieved by such acts of the respondent nos. 1 and 2, the petitioners have filed the present petition.

3. A detailed counter affidavit was filed by the respondent nos. 1 and 2 taking various legal and factual W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 4 of 20 objections. The respondents in their counter affidavit have seriously disputed the income of the petitioner no.2. The respondents have also stated that there was an outstanding amount Rs.59,574/- against the petitioners at the end of the academic year 2008-2009 and the said amount was not paid by them to the detriment of respondent school which being a minority school is dependent upon the said earnings from fees as a source to run the school. The respondents have also taken a stand that the petitioner no.2 is the owner of a house constructed on a plot of land measuring 200 sq. yards in a prime locality in Delhi and he is also a professional teacher of painting and music and earns a good income by giving private tuitions to the students. The respondents have also submitted that in the year 1999-2000 the petitioner no.2 had shown his monthly income to be at Rs.10,000/- p.m. and later in the academic session 2009-2010 he had pretended his income to be Rs.4,000/- p.m. with a sole intent to evade and avoid payment of the school fees. The respondents have also taken a stand that after coming into force the 6 th Pay Commission the expenses of the school have increased W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 5 of 20 manifold and the financial burden on the school has also increased after the commencement of the Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education Act 2009, which act as per Section 12 mandates every school to provide free and compulsory education to 25% students at the entry level and due to that the financial condition of the school has deteriorated to the extent that the school is no longer in a position to provide any more fee concessions. The respondents have also taken a stand that their bona fides can be gauged from the fact that on the very first date fixed before this court they had brought the admit card of the petitioner no.1 so that she could appear in her Board Examination, but the petitioners have been avoiding to pay the outstanding amount of school fee and a sum of Rs. 16,570/- is still outstanding against the petitioners.

4. In the aforesaid backdrop of facts, arguments were addressed by both the parties. The petitioners were represented through Mr. U.M. Tripathi, learned advocate while arguments on behalf of respondents were led by Mr. Rakesh Kumar Khanna, learned Senior Advocate. No counter W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 6 of 20 affidavit was filed by the respondent nos. 3 and 4 except placing on record the necessary circulars and orders and that too when directions to this effect were given by this court.

5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties at great length and given my thoughtful consideration to the arguments advanced by them.

6. The present is yet another addition to the consecutive writ petitions filed by the petitioner no.2 for claiming fee concession for his daughter. Expressing displeasure on the filing of this writ petition two months after his application for fee concession was rejected and just one day before the commencement of the Board Examination, this court vide order dated 14.3.2011 showed its disinclination to entertain this writ petition, but taking into consideration the future of the child, directions were given to the petitioner no.2 to deposit a sum of Rs.2,500/- with the respondent no.1 on the same day and another sum of Rs.2,500/- on 30.3.2011 for the release of the admit card of the petitioner no.1, which W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 7 of 20 directions were complied by the petitioners and the admit card released.

7. Thus, now the controversy that remains to be laid to rest is that whether the petitioner no.1 is entitled to the fee concession or not. The respondent no.1 school is an unaided private school duly recognized under the Delhi School Education Act. Under Rule 158 of Delhi School Education Rules, 1973, there exists a provision for the grant of fee concession and the said rule for better appreciation is reproduced as under:

"158. Fee Concession- (1) The head of the school may exempt deserving students, whose parents or guardians are not financially solvent to pay the fees specified by these rules, from payment of the whole or one-half of such fees for a period of twelve months commencing from the 1st day of May of each year or from the date of admission of the child or ward, whichever is later, and such exemption shall be regulated in the manner specified in sub-rule(3). (2) Exemption made to any student under sub-rule(1) shall, so long as the conditions for eligibility for exemption are fulfilled and the student continues in the school, be renewed from year to year. (3) Up to a limit of twenty per cent of the total number of students on the rolls of the school in all the classes in the [Secondary or Senior Secondary stage} as on the 7 th day of May of the year may be exempted from the payment of the whole or one-half of the fees, and where any student is admitted after the 7 th day of May but before the 31st day of August of that year, up to a limit of twenty per cent of the students so admitted may be exempted from the payment of the whole or one-half of the fees.

W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 8 of 20 (4) The proportion of the students receiving exemption from the payment of the whole or one-half of the fees may be varied in any of classes in the 2{Secondary or Senior Secondary stage} at the discretion of the head of the school, so however, that the number of students enjoying exemption from payment of the whole of the fee shall not exceed fifteen per cent, of the students at any time of the year.

(5) The percentage of the students receiving exemption from payment of the fee shall be calculated on the total number of students in all the classes in the 2{Senior or Senior Secondary stage} reduced by the number of students granted exemption from payment of fee under the provision relating to:

(a) the concessions to students belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes;

(b) students having brothers or sisters studying in the same school or a school under the same management;

(c)students who are wards of teachers.

(6) In calculating the number of exemptions, the fraction of one- half or more shall be treated as one.

(7) The number of exemptions from payment of the fee shall not be altered during the year except where, owing to the departure from the school of any student enjoying exemption, a vacancy arises, it shall be permissible to pass on the exemption enjoyed by the student so departing, to any other deserving student of the school. (8) Where the number o students eligible for receiving exemption from payment of fee is in excess of the number of students to whom exemption is admissible under these rules, the exemption shall be made in order of merit on the basis of the results of the immediately previous annual examination or, if necessary, on the basis of a special competitive examination held to determine the order of merit of the eligible students."

It would be seen from the above rule that up to a limit of twenty percent of the total number of students in all the classes can be exempted from the payment of the whole or one half of the fees and the discretion to grant such W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 9 of 20 exemption vests with the head of the school and such a discretion is exercised by the head of the school in deserving cases of the students whose parents or guardians are not financially solvent to pay the fees specified by the said rules. There is no quarrel with the fact that the grant of fee exemption is not a matter of right and it is for the parents to satisfy the head of the school that he/she is not financially solvent enough to bear the expenses of his/her wards towards the school fees and taking into consideration the material placed before the head of the school, decision is to be taken by the head of the school to grant full fees concession or the concession for one half of the fees. Apart from the already existing Delhi School Education Act, 1973 which is a applicable to Delhi only, another central legislation which aims to fulfill the much desired goal of the right for education for all within this country is the Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education Act 2009, wherein a provision under Section 12 has been made for the grant of free and compulsory education to the economically weaker sections of the society and the children belonging to the disadvantaged W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 10 of 20 group subject to a minimum of 25%. After the commencement of this new Central Statute, every school has a legal obligation to provide free education at the entry level to the children belonging to the weaker sections and disadvantaged group subject to the minimum of 25%. The Directive Principles of State Policy enumerated in our Constitution lay down that the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children upto the age of 14 years. Later on, through the 86th Constitutional Act, 2002, Article 21A was inserted with a view to achieve the said objective of providing free and compulsory education to children in the age group of 6-14 years as a Fundamental Right and through the said Central Act, that is, Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education Act 2009, free elementary education has been made available to the extent of 25 per cent of the strength of the class of those children who belong to economically weaker and disadvantaged sections of the society.

8. As is seen from the abovesaid two enactments, free seats to the extent of 25 per cent upto the level of elementary W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 11 of 20 education is taken care of under the Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education Act 2009 and so far as Delhi School Education Act, 1973 is concerned, Rule 158 of the same takes care of providing free seats to the students of all levels which would mean even Secondary and Senior Secondary level. The petitioner, who is now a student of Xth standard is eligible for the grant of free seat under Rule 158 of the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973 and not under the Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education Act 2009. Indisputably, the petitioner no.1 was granted the advantage of fee concession by respondent no.1 school but the petitioner no.2, father of the petitioner no.1, had not been depositing the amount of the outstanding fee from the Academic Year 2004-2005 till 2009- 2010 and thus a total amount of Rupees 59,574/- was outstanding against the petitioner no.2 towards the school fee. The petitioner has earlier filed two writ petitions before this court for claiming fee concession which were disposed off by this court with the necessary directions.

9. The grant of freeship or fee concession as per rule 158 of the DSER, 1973 is a discretion exercised by the head of W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 12 of 20 the school and cannot be necessarily exercised in each and every case. The scheme envisaged forming part B of the said rules details as to how the number of students to be granted the said benefit are to be calculated and thus every parent canvassing himself to be unable to pay the fees cannot claim the discretion to be exercised in his or her favour. There are various circulars and notifications issued by the Directorate of Education to define the parameters of income of the parents to make them eligible for the grant of such benefit. In the case at hand, it is pertinent to mention that two distressing facts have come to light regarding the petitioner no.2. The first is that petitioner No.2 has not been consistent in disclosing his proper income. In the year 1999 he had disclosed his income at Rupees 10,000/- per month and in the forms submitted by him to claim fee concession for the Academic Year 2010-2011, he has disclosed his income to be Rupees 4,000/- per month. This Court, vide order dated 22.7.2011, gave directions to petitioner no.2 to file an affidavit to disclose his exact assets, moveable and immoveable and in compliance thereof, the petitioner no.2 had filed his affidavit dated 26.8.2011 wherein W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 13 of 20 he has taken the stand that he does not own any immoveable property in his name; that for his day-to-day needs, he imparts dance training to the students and through these dance classes, he earns about Rupees 48,000/- per annum. In the reply affidavit filed by the respondent school on 7.9.2011, it has been pointed out that the petitioner no.2 is also carrying on another profession of slaughtering pigs, which fact is fortified from the First Information Report (FIR) filed by petitioner no.2 against one Mr. Puran Chand leveling allegations of threatening him when he tried to stop them from slaughtering pigs. On 20.3.2007, in the said FIR, petitioner no.2 had also disclosed that he was imparting education of music, painting and folk dance. The respondent no.2 has further taken a stand that in the said case, the petitioner no.2 has given evidence as PW2 on 10.8.2010 where he took a stand that he had studied upto B.A. and he is a private tutor of painting and music and used to go to teach at Ashok Vihar, Deepali, Model Town, Saraswati Vihar, Subhadara Colony and Gur Mandi for the last 30 years. Respondent no.2 has also taken a stand that a music teacher teaching in Delhi is not W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 14 of 20 charging less than Rupees 500/- per hour and going by the admission of petitioner no.2 in the case referred above, if he has been teaching for 3 hours a day, then his income would not be less than Rupees 45,000/- per month. Be that as it may, the fact that is crystal clear from the aforesaid is that the petitioner no.2 has not come forward to truthfully disclose his correct income and has not even given any rejoinder to the reply affidavit of respondent no.2. It cannot be accepted that the Petitioner no.2, who has studied upto B.A. and is imparting private tuition of dance and music is earning a meager amount of Rupees 4,000/- per month.

10. The other fact which has come forth to cast a shadow of doubt on the bonafides of the petitioner no.2 is that in the year 1999, at the time of admission of petitioner no.1, the admission was under the general category while in the enrolment form for the year 2010-11, the petitioner no.2 has claimed himself to be belonging to the Scheduled Caste category thus claiming fee concession for his daughter. A caste certificate dated 29.9.2011 issued by the Office of the Deputy Commissioner (North West District) has been annexed W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 15 of 20 as Annexure P2, wherein in the column of the caste to which the petitioner no.2 belongs is left blank, which goes on to show that the said certificate has been obtained fraudulently and cannot be believed. The caste of a person is inherent and whether he belongs to the Scheduled Caste or not is known to him and it cannot be the case that a person belonging to the general category can be converted to the reserved category. However, it can be the case that the person belonging to the reserved category does not claim the benefit and does not disclose the same, but in that case he himself forfeits his benefits, which however is not the case made out by the petitioner and thus cannot be acceded to.

11. Reliance has also been placed by the petitioner on the notification dated 07.1.2011 issued by the Directorate Of Education for providing fee concession to the students belonging to the weaker section of the society and disadvantaged group. The said notification however would not aid the petitioner in any way as it is only applicable to the students at the entry level till elementary education and the W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 16 of 20 petitioner no.1 being a student of class Xth cannot be given the advantage of the said notification.

12. This court, however, finds merit in the contention of the Respondent no.2 school that it being an unaided private school has the burden of giving salaries of staff according to the 6th Pay Commission and the grant of fee concession as per the Delhi School Education Rules is also to be met from the fee income only. Undoubtedly, the respondent no.2 cannot run its School efficiently and effectively if it lacks proper financial resources. The School generates financial resources only through the school fee and if schools are deprived of the payment of school fee, then such schools will not be in a position to provide proper education and recruiting meritorious teachers, who, after the VIth Pay Commission, are entitled to a handsome amount of salary at par with the Government teachers in term of Section 10 of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973.

13. Before parting with the judgment, this court would like to observe that the concept of fee concession and freeship W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 17 of 20 as envisaged in the two statutes is with the aim and object that those who do not have the means to give education to their children are not deprived, as education has become the necessity for survival in this day of cut throat competition. Education is a right not a luxury in our country and the statutes are to abridge the gap between the goal and the reality. The country has gone through a long struggle to put itself on the world map and be known for its brilliantly trained minds, but this has not been without the struggle that the parents go through for making every possible endeavour to educate their child. Today, education is empowerment and with a view that the economically weaker sections and the disadvantaged groups are not left behind, a social obligation has been cast upon the private unaided schools to provide fee concession to the deserving students, but this does not mean that the parents who have the prime responsibility to provide education to their child put the burden on the school. The parents cannot in any manner shirk away from their duty in the garb of belonging to the weaker section of society and as a matter of right demand concessions from the schools. Indians W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 18 of 20 today are highly aware and informed citizens and the demand for inclusive education has never been as fervent as it is today, and for the State to fulfil the expectation of every common man for providing a better tomorrow to his child through education should no doubt be the ambition of this country, but the chasm that exists between achieving this goal and the reality cannot be overlooked and shied away from. The present is a classic example of the parent, petitioner no.2 herein, who is educated and is in a profession, but does not wish to pay for the education of his child, and falsely claims to be a man of no means and wants to realize the education of his child through the portals of law, is nothing but an exploitation of the beneficial social legislations and an abuse of the court of law, besides an assault on the opportunities of the ones truly deserving these concessions. The petitioner no.2 is a compulsive litigator, who has not come to the court with clean hands, coupled with his recalcitrant attitude of not paying the outstanding arrears of fee to respondent no.2 discredits him from any relief by this court.

W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 19 of 20

14. In the light of the aforesaid discussion, this Court does not find petitioner no.1 eligible for the grant of fee concession in terms of Rule 158 of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973. Petitioner No.2 is accordingly directed to pay the entire outstanding amount of the School fee for the current academic session, failing which the School is entitled to take steps for non-payment of fees as per the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973.

15. In the light of the above, there is no merit in the present petition and the same is hereby dismissed.

December 23, 2011 KAILASH GAMBHIR, J mg

W.P.(C) No. 1659/2011 Page 20 of 20

http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/86105338/