Mumbai: The Maharashtra English School Trustees Association (MESTA) has threatened to hold protests if the state government does not release over ₹2,400 crore in pending Right to Education (RTE) fee reimbursements for private unaided English medium schools in Maharashtra.
Sanjayrao Tayade Patil, founder-president of MESTA, highlighted that these “payments have been delayed for more than four years, causing significant financial strain on schools.” The association warned that if their demands are not addressed promptly, they will organise a democratic protest to seek justice.
Asked about the next course of action, Patil informed the FPJ, “We are to hold an association meeting in the next couple of days and fix a date to school education minister Dadaji Bhuse in Thane, where deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde will also be present as its his district and the government owes Rs 90 crore from Thane schools alone. We will submit a memorandum to the ministers and try to meet the chief minister as well.”
“If our demands are not met in a stipulated time frame, we will organise a state-wide protest,” added Patil.
In addition to the RTE fee reimbursement, MESTA also raised several other key issues affecting private unaided schools, including the need for legal action against unauthorised schools operating in the state and their immediate closure. The association also called for the relaxation of criteria for the approval and upgradation of new schools, which it claims are too stringent.
Another demand was for government-led training programs for teachers in the schools, aiming to improve educational standards. MESTA further called for the government’s approval to distribute funds from elected representatives to support these schools.
MESTA stressed the importance of immediate government action on these issues, warning that failure to do so would lead to widespread protests.
