New Delhi: Marking the completion of 100 days in office under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Delhi Education minister Ashish Sood on Wednesday announced that the government will bring an ordinance to implement the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2025. The move aims to curb arbitrary fee hikes by private schools, a longstanding issue that has triggered repeated protests from parents. The Bill, originally scheduled to be tabled in the Delhi Assembly during the May 14–15 session, could not be introduced. “We will introduce the Delhi School Education Transparency Bill, which could not be tabled in the last Assembly session… we are bringing an ordinance to turn it into law to end the exploitation by schools,” Sood said. He added, “This has greatly upset those who have supported the school mafia for the past 27 years.”
Citing media reports and parent protests, particularly against Delhi Public School (DPS) Dwarka, Sood claimed the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government failed to act. “The issue of fee hikes is not new. These protests have been happening since 2021, even earlier, and yet the previous AAP government did nothing,” he said. Sood accused former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former education minister Manish Sisodia of “hiding in Punjab” during the crisis. “Arvind Kejriwal was busy building the ‘sheesh mahal’ and now the AAP is blaming our CM Rekha Gupta-led government,” he said. He asserted that in the current government’s 100-day tenure, “not a single school increased its fees.” Sood also highlighted the government’s intervention through District Magistrate-level committees that led to court orders on the issue. “We are the ones who sent the DM committee to schools. It is because of our report that the high court issued stringent orders,” he said. Meanwhile, parents under the United Parents Voice (UPV) met Leader of Opposition Atishi to express concerns over the ordinance. They alleged harassment and discrimination by schools and criticised the government for not consulting parents before drafting the bill. One of the major achievements underlined by Sood was the release of pending grant-in-aid to Delhi University colleges. “Delhi government has released Rs 275 crore as the first instalment of funding to 12 fully state-funded Delhi University colleges, ensuring timely salaries and operational support,” he said. He accused the previous AAP government of neglecting these institutions, saying, “The previous government did not release grants to DU where students from middle-class families study. But we released the money on April 1.”
In the higher education sector, the government disbursed Rs 19 crore in scholarships to over 1,300 students from low-income families, scholarships that had been pending since 2022. Additionally, under the CM Digital Education Scheme, 1,200 laptops have been distributed to students scoring above 90 percent. In school education, Sood announced the launch of free online coaching for NEET and CUET-UG in partnership with MSTC, Physics Wallah, and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). Over 23,000 students from Delhi government schools have enrolled, 3,458 for NEET and 19,756 for CUET. “This step is meant for those students who cannot afford expensive coaching,” Sood said. He also announced that 75 new ‘CM Shri Schools’ would be built with an allocation of Rs 100 crore. These schools will include smart classrooms, AR/VR labs, AI-based learning, and courses in data science and robotics. “From digital libraries to AI-enabled smart classrooms, we are investing in students from every background, ensuring no child is left behind,” he added. The government also digitised 250 school libraries and is setting up 100 AI-enabled language labs to teach English, French, German, and Spanish. For EWS (Economically Weaker Section) students, Sood said the process had been made fully transparent. “This year, with the push of a button, 28,000 children received EWS admission letters. Soon, 38,000 children will get final admissions,” he said. School uniform subsidies have also been increased, from Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,250 for nursery to Class 5, from Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 for Classes 6 to 8, and from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,700 for Classes 9 to 12.
On urban development, Sood asserted that “no slum will be demolished in Delhi.” The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) has been allocated Rs 700 crore to improve conditions in slum areas. “2,500 homes built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, which were left unoccupied due to political reasons, are now being restored and made livable with a budget of Rs 43 crore,” he said. Regarding the Madarasi Camp relocation issue pending in court, he said 215 out of 370 families have already been resettled. In the power sector, the number of power cuts over 30 minutes dropped to 1,946 between February and May, according to Sood. He also announced that rooftop solar subsidies under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana had been raised from Rs 6,000 to Rs 30,000. On law and order, forensic investigation has been made mandatory in all serious crimes. Mobile forensic labs are being introduced, and 100 new fire tenders are being added to improve emergency services in dense localities.