Good News For Parents: Private Schools In UP Now Under RTI Purview

The Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission (SIC) has ruled that all private schools in the state will now come under the ambit of Right to Information (RTI) Act, reports Times of India.

Consequent to the ruling, private schools will be compelled to provide the information sought under the RTI Act. For this purpose, the state information commissioner Pramod Kumar Tiwari in his order sought appointment of public information officers in private schools.

Notably, Tiwari has given this ruling while disposing of the appeal planned in the matter of Sanjay Sharma Vs Information Officer/Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow yesterday (14 July).

That unaided private schools should be under the purview of RTI Act had been a matter of debate for quite some time.

Following an appeal filed by one Sanjay Sharma in respect to two reputed private schools of Lucknow, the SIC asked the chief secretary to instruct private school administrators to appoint officers to facilitate people to get information under the RTI Act, 2005.

Private schools did not provide information under RTI on the grounds that they were not funded by the state and were outside the purview of the Act.

However, the Supreme Court had ruled that if the development authority of a city provides land to a private school at concessional rates, the school will be considered adequately funded by the state.

The SIC also propounded that the district education officer is bound to give all the information mentioned in the form to the petitioner on demand.

With IANS Inputs