Will personally monitor fee refund from pvt schools: CM

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said he would personally follow up on the refund of fees by 67 private schools, which will soon be issued show-cause notice by the Education Department.

Talking to Millennium Post, at the launch programme of the Neta app here, the Chief Minster said, "All the schools have to roll back the fees and I will ensure that."

When asked why is the process being delayed, he replied, "All the private schools are working on this and I am personally monitoring the issue."

In a major relief to parents in schoolchildren in the Capital, as many as 128 private schools have decided to roll back their 'arbitrary' fee hikes, the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government had announced on Thursday.

Further, the government will issue show-cause notices to 67 private schools that have not complied with the direction to roll back the fee hike.

"Out of 195 private schools, 128 have informed the Directorate of Education that they are rolling back the hiked fees. The move will benefit 2.03 lakh students studying at these 128 schools. The remaining 67 private schools will soon be served show-cause notices for not complying with the orders," a government spokesperson said.

Moreover, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia will hold a meeting with representatives of all 128 schools that have acted in accordance with the government's directive to discuss the plan to improve education in the Capital.

Meanwhile, talking about the ration card issue, Kejriwal also told Millennium Post, "The Centre has appointed officials who are creating the problem. Most of the officers are in our favour and helping us to work for the development. We do not have the Services department with us, which is a major problem and the Center is using this as a tool. I have faith in the Supreme Court and then as soon as the case resolves and we get the services department back, everything will be all right."

On Thursday, the Chief Minister had said that the Prime Minister's Office has "pressurised" officers of the Delhi administration to cancel around three lakh ration cards in the Capital, because of which the poor are struggling for food.

Speaking on the newly-launched Neta app, Kejriwal noted that while India is a large democracy, there are people who give their votes based on caste, religion and other perceptions.

"There are many who have not even met their representatives... in such an atmosphere I think this initiative will give voters information about candidates and their work. It would help both the party and people," he said.

Pratham Mittal, the app's founder, said that the platform uses combination of Artificial Intelligence, advanced algorithms, one time password and Aadhaar numbers to ensure that the voters who rate leaders are genuine.

Unveiled by former President Pranab Mukherjee, the app will let users rate their MLAs and MPs and is being billed as an instrument to gauge voter sentiment across constituencies in the country.