Whistle-blowing Kartar Singh, 515 Agarsen Colony, Sirsa-Haryana 09416645166, and others. Saturday, 16 August 2014. Worthy, the Chief Secretary, The Government of Haryana, Civil Secretariat, Chandigarh. Subject: Condemned Building of the Government National College, Sirsa (Women Wing), and Hostel Fee Hike. Construction of new Building, and Roll-back in Fee Hike Besought. Re. Madam, Reference to these twin issues pertaining to study and safety concerns of the students of the Government National College Sirsa to be read with their financial exploitation by the state itself, it is respectfully submitted that the classes of 1350 girls of this college are held only in 10 rooms in the old Tehsil Office. This building was constructed during the British Rule, and with its aging, it was abandoned as condemned way back in 2006. This was expected to be bull-dozed to avoid any kind of loss but with the reoccupation of the ruins as classrooms for the Women Wing of the College raised the instant issue in public interest Contrary to execute pulling down work on this 1937 model building, the Directorate of Higher Education opted for risking the precious lives of girls, and by taking this disastrous decision, they shifted girls of Arts and Commerce faculties to this site in 2007. Whereas, the very design of the structure might be proper for office establishment but this could not be utilized for classrooms. Opposing this, the scared and suffocating students have raised this issue with the administration, and politicians repeatedly, and have always demanded for having a new college building, and for the establishment of an independent college for women. But, this genuine demand of the apolitical girls has been ignored by the District Administration coldly, and safety measures of these students rest in the name of Allah and Waheguru. Therefore, besides risking their lives, study of these girls is affected for senselessly set classrooms. Politically, it has been correct that honouring a binge of PROMISES, Hon’ble Chief Minister Haryana got accorded a sanction of Rupees about 17 Crores for the construction of modern building at the site of open air theatre. Nevertheless, the officialdom of the PWD B&R, and the HUDA could not allow the work at the proposed site till date. This obtains contrast to Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign of the State, and this issue needs its redressing at the earliest in public interest, and to save the study of these girls, and to save the girls themselves. Naturally, this accommodation for girls imperils their life, and repetition of the DABWALI INCIDENT cannot be obliterated absolutely. This is a simple equation to understand the fact of suffering of these girls both ways, and this is an uninterrupted phenomenon for the callous attitude of the state and it should not be allowed to cause distress to these students. For the issue of Hostel Fee Hike, it is a respectful submission the Higher Education Department Haryana has overlooked not only the social strata being the clientele of these colleges, but also the legal position re fee hike. The paragraphs 43 and 44, reproduced here as an excerpt, of the HC judgment in the Civil Writ Petition No.20545 of 2009 (O&M), Anti-Corruption and Crime Investigation Cell versus State of Punjab and others rivet in the guiding principle for affecting any kind of fee hike. 43. Hon’ble Mr. Justice Cyriac Joseph while agreeing with Hon‟ble Mr. Justice S.H. Kapadia recorded his note as under: “58. Though I agree with the view of S.B. Sinha, J. that any direction issued by the High Court or by the rule making authority or any statutory authority must be in conformity with the decision of this Court in the case of T.M.A. Pai Foundation as clarified by the decision of this Court in the case of P.A. Inamdar, in my view, the judgment of S.H. Kapadia, J. does not question or contradict such a legal proposition. On the contrary, it is in recognition of the above legal proposition that modification suggested by the learned Counsel for the review petitioners in respect of Clause 8 of the order dated 15.12.1999 issued by the Director of Education has been accepted by S.H. Kapadia, J.” 44. After taking note of all these judgments and the legal principles laid down therein in the matter stated above, the Delhi High Court summed up the legal position as under: “56. A conjoint reading of the judgments of the Supreme Court in Modern School (supra) as well as review petitions in the case of Action Committee Unaided Pvt. Schools & Ors. (supra) would clearly demonstrate that the three points formulated are answered as under: 1) DoE has the Authority to regulate the quantum of fee charged by unaided schools under Section 17(3) of the CWP No. 20545 of 2009 etc. 48 1973 Act. It has to ensure that the schools are not indulging in profiteering. 2) The direction of DoE that no fees/funds collected from parents/students shall be transferred from the Recognized Un-aided Schools Fund to the society or trust or any other institution, was valid. However, it could be transferred under the same society or trust, which aspect is clarified in the review petition. 3) Recognized unaided schools were entitled to set up Development Fund Account and could charge the students for the same, but that should not exceed 15% of the annual tuition fee.” xxx xxx xxx 61. Special Leave Petition against the aforesaid judgment was dismissed by the Supreme Court. After all Section 17(3) of the Act gives freedom to the unaided recognized schools to fix the fee at the commencement of each academic session, file with the Director a full statement of the fees as levied during the ensuing academic session. This would be necessary to the Government when we recommend the regulatory role of the Director to ensure that he fee charged is not unreasonable. Likewise, the only other restriction is that during the academic session, there should not be further increase without the prior approval of the Director. Again, this provision is made to check arbitrary increase in fee, time and again, after the academic session has commenced. There may be circumstances which may justify enhancement of fee even during the academic session. However, the schools are required to justify those circumstances for which prior approval is mandated. According to us, this provision is in tune with the legal principle stated by the Supreme Court in so many judgments, viz., autonomy to the schools to fix their fee on the one hand and conferring authority upon the DoE to regulate the quantum of fee with limited purpose to ensure that the schools are not indulging in profiteering. The provision, thus, strikes a balance between the rights of the CWP No. 20545 of 2009 etc. 49 schools on the one hand and duty cast upon the DoE on the other hand. xxxxx We, therefore, are of the opinion that Section 17(3) does not suffer from any vires or arbitrariness and is not violative of Article 14 or 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India. 62. With this, we revert back to the issues On Merits: The clear legal position which emerges from the combined reading of the judgments of the Supreme Court, directly on the issue of revising tuition fee by Delhi schools under the Delhi Education Act, and already stated in detail above, demonstrates that the schools cannot indulge in commercialization of education which would mean that the fee structure has to be kept within bound so as to avoid profiteering. At the same time, “reasonable surplus” is permissible as fund in the form of such surplus may be required for development of various activities in the schools for the benefit of students themselves. The guiding principle, in the process, is “to strike a balance between autonomy of such institution and measures to be taken in avoiding commercialization of education”. The autonomy of the schools can be ensured by giving first right to such schools to increase the fee. At the same time, quantum of fee to be charged by unaided schools is subject to regulation by the DoE which power is specifically conferred upon the DoE by virtue of Section 17(3) of 1973 Act. This is specifically held by the Supreme Court in Modern School (supra) and Action Committee Unaided Private Schools and Anr. (supra). Normally, therefore, in the first instance, it is for the schools to fix their fee and/or increase the same which right is conferred upon the schools as recognized in TMA Pai (supra). The DoE can step in and interfere if hike in fee by a particular school is found to be excessive and perceived as “indulging in profiteering”. It would be a procedure to be resorted to routinely. However, validity of the orders dated 11.02.2009 passed by the DoE is to be judged in a different hue altogether. Situation arose because of the implementation of pay structure recommended by the 6th Pay Commission, which was to be done mid-session albeit from retrospective effect, i.e., with effect from 01.01.2006. All CWP No. 20545 of 2009 etc. 50 aided and unaided recognized schools in Delhi were under obligation to give increase to their teachers and staff members which resulted in substantial hike in pay package of the employees of these schools. Further, it happened across the board and it was not a situation specific to a particular school. As a result of this added financial burden whereas the schools wanted to increase the fee, PTAs on the other hand, maintained that some of the schools enjoyed robust financial health, which was sufficient to bear the additional monetary burden without hike in the fee to be charged from the students. This necessitated going into the records of each school. Therefore, in a situation like this where on the one hand, there was perceptible additional financial burden created on account of increase in the pay of the staff and on the other hand, the exercise demanded by the PTAs of going into the financial records of each schools was time consuming, the issuance of orders dated 11.02.2009 by the Government, as an interim measure, proposing to increase the tuition fee in the manner provided in the said order with a lid on the upper limit cannot be faulted with. It is more so, when the proposed increase is not based on any whims of the DoE, but was preceded by the constitution of a Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri S.L. Bansal, a retired I.A.S. officer and the impugned orders were the result of the reports submitted by the said Committee after undertaking requisite exercise, albeit, of preliminary nature, but after giving hearing to all stakeholders. At this stage, while passing such an order, there could not have been any option, but to pass a general order for increase in fee. Evidently, before steep hike of college hostel fee, this judgement required its perusal. Wherein, let us hasten to add in case the authorities do not know, and if the state machinery shows any concern for the checks they have upon them, this is brought to their kind notice that they were supposed not to indulge in profiteering by this fee hike as per the reference made above. For any further residue of suspense of the Directorate of Higher Education Haryana over the fee structure, and rules governing it, they may note to understand the things with the following table pertaining to the same process of fee hike by the Punjab University Chandigarh which could give effect to the fee hike by 5-10% only for the reasons explained above. Sidelights of the Panjab University Senate meeting” This, tabulated calculation of the fee structure of the PU, suffices to explain that the State of Haryana has hiked existing hostel fee irrationally. Against this, the poor girls were attempting to register their protest, and the DC Sirsa, and the Commissioner Hisar could not spare their time to hear them on 8.8.2014. This forces the applicant to support the genuine cause of the poor girls without any hesitation and to condemn the odd behaviour of these officers which they ventured to put on display particularly on 8.8.2014, and hence this third party complaint to help assist the continuation of studies of these girls in a safe and sound manner. For further addition to the ongoing argument, moreover, the District Administration Sirsa, and its brethren at DHE Haryana who have violated the established laws of the land, may be made aware of the fact that it has been held by the Supreme Court in case reported as Samir Vs. State, AIR 1982 SC 66 that the duty of the State under this directive is not only to establish educational institutions but also to effectively secure the right to education. They should have known that we are a democracy, and in this democratic set up, they are servants, and servants cannot remain unmoved for the cause of public, and specially students like these poor girls, pitiably protesting for their rights, and against their hostel fee hikes. The dire consequence of this negligence has been that most of the girls could not afford to revised fee structure, and for the time being, these girls commute their far-flung villages to college, and are at discount on perpetual basis. This explains the exigency of submitting this second complaint within a week to seek directions to the dead to the world authorities to work out their calculations as per various decisions of the courts. Added to it is the excerpt from the views of the Hon’ble Supreme Court while disposing of the matter of Avinash Nagra v. Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti & Ors., (1997) 2 SCC 534. “11. It is in this backdrop, therefore, that the Indian society has elevated the teacher as “Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheswaraha”. As Brahma, the teacher creates knowledge, learning, wisdom and also creates out of his students, men and women, equipped with ability and knowledge discipline and intellectualism to enable them to face the challenges of their lives. As Vishnu, the teacher is preserver of learning. As Maheswara, he destroys ignorance. Obviously, therefore, the teacher was placed on the pedestal below the parents. The State has taken care of service conditions of the teacher and he owes dual fundamental duties to himself and to the society. As a member of the noble teaching profession and a citizen of India he should always be willing, self-disciplined, dedicated with integrity to remain ever a learner of knowledge, intelligently to articulate and communicate and imbibe in his students, as society duty, to impart education, to bring them up with discipline, inculcate to abjure violence and to develop scientific temper with a spirit of enquiry and reform constantly to rise to higher levels in any walk of life nurturing constitutional ideals enshrined in Article 51-A so as to make the students responsible citizens of the country. Thus the teacher either individually or collectively as a community of teachers, should regenerate this dedication with a bent of spiritualism in broader perspective of the constitutionalism with secular ideologies enshrined in the Constitution as an arm of the State to establish egalitarian social order under the rule of law. Therefore, when the society has given such a pedestal, the conduct, character, ability and disposition of a teacher should be to transform the student into a disciplined citizen, inquisitive to learn, intellectual to pursue in any walk of life with dedication, discipline and devotion with an enquiring mind but not with blind customary beliefs. The education that is imparted by the teacher determines the level of the student for the development, prosperity and welfare of the society. The quality, competence and character of the teacher are, therefore, most significant to mould the calibre, character and capacity of the student for successful working of democratic institutions and to sustain them in their later years of life as a responsible citizen in different responsibilities. Without a dedicated and disciplined teacher, even the best education system is bound to fail. It is, therefore, the duty of the teacher to take such care of the pupils as a careful parent would take of its children and the ordinary principle of vicarious liability would apply where negligence is that of a teacher. The age of the pupil and the nature of the activity in which he takes part are material factors determining the degree and supervision demanded by a teacher. 12. It is axiomatic that percentage of education among girls, even after independence, is fathom deep due to independence , is fathom deep due to indifference on the part of all in rural India except some educated people, Education to the girl children is nations asset and foundation for fertile human resources and disciplined family management, apart from their equal participation in socio-economic and political democracy. Only of late, some middle-class people are sending the girl children to co-educational institutions under the care of proper management and to look after the welfare and safety of the girl. Therefore, greater responsibility is thrust on the management of the schools and colleges to protect the young children, in particular, the growing up girls, to bring them up in disciplined and dedicated pursuit of excellence. The teacher, who has been kept in charge, bears more added higher responsibility and should be more exemplary. His/her character and conduct should be more like Rishi and as loco parentis and such is the duty, responsibility and charge expected of a teacher . The question arises whether the conduct of the appellant is befitting with such higher responsibilities and as he by his conduct betrayed the trust and forfeited the faith whether he would be entitled to the full-fledged enquiry as demanded by him? The fallen standard of the appellant is the tip of the iceberg in the discipline of teaching, a noble and learned profession; it is for each teacher and collectively their body to stem the rot to sustain the faith of the society reposed in them. Enquiry is not a panacea but a nail in the coffin….”.(Emphasis added) Yet, before summing up the matter, it is essential to remind the Directorate of Higher Education Haryana that the National College Sirsa was undertaken by the State on 22 January 1979. Subsequently, land measuring 26 acres along with the existing structure for classrooms, and the Boys Hostel was got mutated to the state. Out of this land, one politician got transferred a precious piece in her name. At the land meant for Shooting Range of NCC of that time is the present day BAL BHAVAN with its row of shops towards Barnala Road. The District Library, to add, also comprised in the college area. A small piece of land, adjacent to the Bus Stand, and opposite to the existing College premises, was grabbed by the Haryana Roadways Sirsa around 1988. Before it, this piece of land was used as CYCLE STAND for the students. With all this, the students have suffered a lot, and with endangering of their lives with this unsafe and suffocating classrooming, therefore, they may not be made to suffer with the lethargy of the administration. Therefore, in view of the above contentions, and just reasons based upon the actual field reports, it is prayed that the controversy amongst PWD, and HUDA may kindly be got sorted out, and the grants-in-aid of rupees 17 crores sanctioned for the Women Wing of GNC Sirsa may kindly be ordered to be utilized for construction work within a scheduled time frame and, for the instantaneous remedy , the girl students of the GNC Sirsa may be adjusted in a well-furnished building, specifically constructed for the purpose of schooling only, and not be accommodated in the abandoned structure of old Tehsil office Sirsa. Secondly, the unjustified fee hike from Rupees 3700 to 11640/- may kindly be rolled back, and the increase, if necessary, may be affected only less than rupees 370/- preferably, ie 10% of the pre-revised fee structure, as per the exercise undertaken by Punjab University, Chandigarh, and in strict adherence to the views expressed by the Hon’ble High/Supreme Court on this issue, with the further effect of habituating the bureaucracy to respect the spirit of the decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. In the wake of these peculiar circumstances of the matter it is believed that the applicant and alumni of this very college would not be forced to prefer the pursuing of the matter through ad judicature of the Hon’ble High Court, and on the spot remedy would be procured to the students at the level of executive only. Thanking you Yours faithfully, Kartar Singh & others DA: Text of the Complaint dated 10 Aug 2014 requesting for roll-back in fee structure through e-mail, and the address in particular through Speed Post no EH 357729758 IN 11.8.2014. An Advance Copy of this Public Interest Representation. i. His Excellency, the Governor of Haryana ii. Hon’ble Chief Minister Government of Haryana. iii. Smt Smriti Zubin Irani, Hon’ble Minister, HRD, Government of India, Sashtri Bhavan, New Delhi. This may kindly be read with the complaint dated 10 Aug 2014 submitted through Speed Post no EH 357729761 IN 11.8.2014. iv. Hon’ble Education Minister, Haryana. v. Worthy Principal Secretary, Higher Education Haryana. vi. Worthy Director, Higher Education, Haryana. vii. The Deputy Commissioner, Sirsa. viii. The Principal, Post- Graduate National College Sirsa. ix. Print media
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 10:47:33 +0000
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