"Zero Tolerance": Delhi Chief Minister Cracks Down On School After Fee Hike

The Delhi government has adopted a zero tolerance policy on arbitrary fee hikes in schools and harassment of parents and students won't be tolerated, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said today. During a public interaction, a group of parents complained to the Chief Minister about how their children were expelled from Queen Mary School in Model Town after they objected to illegal fee hikes. A video posted by the Chief Minister on X shows her asking an official to inform the school authorities that its registration will be cancelled.

The Chief Minister has said schools cannot threaten students and increase fees abnormally. "There are rules and regulations (for fee hikes) that must be followed. If any school is found indulging in all these, it will have to suffer. We will issue notices to all schools we have received complaints about," she told the media.

आज जनसंवाद कार्यक्रम के दौरान क्वीन मैरी स्कूल, मॉडल टाउन से संबंधित एक मामला सामने आया, जिसमें बच्चों के परिजनों ने गलत तरीके से फीस वसूली और बच्चों को स्कूल से निकाले जाने की शिकायत दर्ज की।

इस विषय पर तुरंत संज्ञान लेते हुए संबंधित अधिकारियों को तत्काल जांच कर कड़ी और आवश्यक… pic.twitter.com/gVThK6jFTn

— Rekha Gupta (@gupta_rekha) April 15, 2025

In her post on X, she said the Delhi government is committed to transparency, equal opportunity and protecting children's rights in the education sector. "Any form of injustice, exploitation and irregularity will be tackled with a zero tolerance policy. Our pledge is clear -- every child should get justice, respect and quality education," Ms Gupta said.

The Chief Minister's clear message against school fee hikes comes amid the Opposition AAP's allegations about the BJP's links with the Action Committee of Unaided Private Schools, which had earlier contested the AAP government's stand against fee hikes. "Bharat Arora, president of the Association of Unaided Private Schools, is an office-bearer of the BJP and actively campaigned for the Chief Minister ahead of the Assembly polls. And as soon as the BJP formed the government, news of school fee hikes started coming in," former Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has alleged.

The BJP has, however, accused AAP of pushing a false narrative. Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said, "There are more than 1,650 private schools in Delhi, but the Arvind Kejriwal government managed to audit the accounts of only 75 schools in a year. Taking advantage of this, almost all private schools have been raising fees substantially."

Mr Sachdeva alleged that Arvind Kejriwal, former Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and former Chief Minister Atishi are spreading lies and confusion on social media. "The AAP leaders are relentlessly trying to build a false political narrative against the BJP in Delhi. When their propaganda failed on issues like the Women's Prosperity Scheme, Ayushman Bharat, and power cuts, they have now taken up the school fee hike issue for political mileage -- but they will not succeed."