Madhya Pradesh: Private schools comes under Right to Information Act, says State Information Commission

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Private schools come under the Right to Information Act (RTI), said State Information Commission on Thursday as it penalised two school officials of education department for misleading people on the issue.

Earlier it was assumed that private schools do not come under the RTI Act, as they were private and the state government did not have any control over their working.

In its order, Court of Commissioner Rahul Singh, said, “Schools getting grant from the government through direct or indirect means comes under the Act. The schools which have taken land from the government on subsidised rate too come comes under the Act.”

The Commissioner also stated that parents of the students had the right to know about school’s registration, affiliation and more.

The Commissioner also penalised two of officers who had failed to provide information related to schools asked under the RTI Act.

An RTI plea was filed seeking information about school’s affiliation. However, government officials refused to provide the information stating that the private school was a third party and did not come under the purview of the Act.

The Commission penalised the then district education officer Rewa and present deputy director Rewa division KP Tiwari and asked them to pay Rs 10,000 to the complainant.

Similarly the Commission has also penalised the then block education officer Tyothar Rewa, Neeraj Nayan Tiwari and directed them to pay another Rs 10,000 to the complainant.