Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered the central government to immediately allocate the funds required to admit students in private schools under the Right to Compulsory Education Act to the Tamil Nadu Government. A bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshmi Narayanan was hearing a case related to 25 percent reservation for poor students in private schools under the Right to Compulsory Education Act (RTE Act) filed by V. Easwaran, an administrator of the Revival Movement from Coimbatore.
The petition claimed that the reservation rule has not been implemented in Tamil Nadu's private schools under the RTE Act.
While the Tamil Nadu government stated that since the Central Government did not allocate funds, it could not provide the amount due to private schools, and that the state government allocated funds even though the Central Government did not allocate funds from 2021 to 2023, and that the case is ongoing in the Supreme Court against the non-allocation of funds.
The Central Government stated that the tuition fee for the 25 percent reservation for poor students has not been allocated since the state government did not sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Government regarding the implementation of the new education policy.
The judges, who had adjourned the case without specifying a date after all the arguments from all sides were over, ruled in the case today.
The court's order said that the central government must fulfil its duty under the Right to Education Act. It stated that the Samagra Shiksha scheme under the RTE Act is indeed similar to the implementation of the New Education Policy, 2020, but the duties under the RTE are independent. "The central and state governments have responsibilities, including allocating funds, to implement the RTE Act," said the order.
Moreover, the state government has already filed a case in the Supreme Court in this regard. In the financial year 2024-25, an estimated Rs 3,586 crore was to be allocated under the Samagra Shiksha scheme by both the state and central governments. Of this, the central government's share is Rs 2,151 crore.