Skip to main content

Turning a blind eye to discrimination towards impoverished people in schools

By Venkatesh Nayak*
The print media has been reporting serious lapses in the implementation of the Right to Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) over the last few months. A major problem is the reluctance of some State Governments and elite schools to fulfill the obligations towards students belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS) of society. Pls see detailed articles on this subject published in “Outlook” and The Economic and Political Weekly (EPW):
1) http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Colour-Coded-Discrimination/291806. A copy of this article was attached to my RTI application as proof of information available in the public domain about discrimination against economically weaker sections (EWS) children.
2) http://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/2014_49/38/Quotas_under_the_Right_to_Education.pdf.
After reading these articles I filed a right to information (RTI) application with the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MoHRD). Initially the MoHRD transferred my RTI application internally and then fell silent. So I filed a first appeal. The First Appellate Authority ordered disclosure of all information. Now the public information officer (PIO) has replied with some information.
The main findings in the RTI reply are:
It looks like the MoHRD simply does not monitor the implementation of the RTE Act regarding EWS entitlements. They do not have any complaints in their files about discrimination against EWS children. They have passed the buck to the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and SCPCRs (State Commissions) / RTE Protection Authority (REPAs) and do not even bother to collect data about how they are addressing complaints about discrimination.
After all under the Allocation of Business Rules, the RTE Act falls under the MoHRD’s charge. They cannot simply send money for implementing the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and mid-day meal scheme and then not monitor how schools and States are implementing the RTE Act. Interestingly, the MoHRD gave a similar reply to a query raised in Parliament last month.
The reply to my second query in the RTI application shows that MoHRD does not even bother to take action suo motu when they read reports of the kind published in EPW and Outlook about discrimination against EWS children. They have simply transferred the responsibility to the monitoring bodies.
I can understand they may not be able to handle every complaint, but when investigative reporting is showing that an entire state like Uttar Pradesh is violating EWS clauses, is it not reasonable to expect that they should take some action on this issue? Instead the MoHRD seem to be busy trying to organise events to mark good governance day on December 25, 2014.
Without getting into the politics of it, I must say good governance is not only to be commemorated, but also practiced. The MoHRD must do this by properly monitoring the implementation of the RTE Act. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) promised “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”. Today, the educational sector is one of the major arenas where inclusion needs to be ensured. Inclusion is not merely permitting children from EWS sections of society to attend classes, but also participate in all activities to which other children from well off families have access.
By turning a blind eye to discriminatory practices in schools, the MoHRD will only create entire generations of people who will learn to treat the impoverished with contempt. It is important to ensure that all State Governments and schools act in a manner that will ensure the realisation of the constitutional vision of equality, justice and fraternity contained in the Preamble of our Constitution.

*Programme Coordinator, Access to Information Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi

Comments

TRENDING

10,000 students deprived of classes as Ahmedabad school remains shut: MCC writes to Gujarat CM

By A Representative   The Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) has written to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, urging him to immediately reopen the Seventh Day Adventist School in Maninagar, Ahmedabad, where classes have been suspended for nearly two weeks. The MCC claims that the suspension, following a violent incident, violates the constitutional right to education of thousands of children.

Gujarat minority rights group seeks suspension of Botad police officials for brutal assault on minor

By A Representative   A human rights group, the Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) Gujarat,  has written to the Director General of Police (DGP), Gandhinagar, demanding the immediate suspension and criminal action against police personnel of Botad police station for allegedly brutally assaulting a minor boy from the Muslim community.

On Teachers’ Day, remembering Mother Teresa as the teacher of compassion

By Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ   It is Teachers’ Day once again! Significantly, the day also marks the Feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta (still lovingly called Mother Teresa). In 2012, the United Nations, as a fitting tribute to her, declared this day the International Day of Charity. A day pregnant with meaning—one that we must celebrate as meaningfully as possible.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative   A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey  visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification. 

'Govts must walk the talk on gender equality, right to health, human rights to deliver SDGs by 2030'

By A Representative  With just 64 months left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global health and rights advocates have called upon governments to honour their commitments on gender equality and the human right to health. Speaking ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), experts warned that rising anti-rights and anti-gender pushes are threatening hard-won progress on SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) and SDG-5 (gender equality).

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Is U.S. fast losing its financial and technological edge under Trump’s second tenure?

By Dr. Manoj Kumar Mishra*  The United States, along with its Western European allies, once promoted globalization as a democratic force that would deliver shared prosperity and balanced growth. That promise has unraveled. Globalization, instead of building an even world, has produced one defined by inequality, asymmetry of power, and new vulnerabilities. For decades, Washington successfully turned this system to its advantage. Today, however, under Trump’s second administration, America is attempting to exploit the weaknesses of others without acknowledging how exposed it has become itself.

What mainstream economists won’t tell you about Chinese modernisation

By Shiran Illanperuma  China’s modernisation has been one of the most remarkable processes of the 21st century and one that has sparked endless academic debate. Meng Jie (孟捷), a distinguished professor from the School of Marxism at Fudan University in Shanghai, has spent the better part of his career unpacking this process to better understand what has taken place.