Rs 1L fine imposed on Sri Chaitanya, Gowtham Junior colleges in Hyd

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Intermediate Board imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh each on Sri Chaitanya Junior Kalasala, Saidabad and Gowtham Junior College, RTC Crossroads for collecting high tuition fee and violating norms of the Board of Intermediate Education.

Vijay Gopal, an anti-corruption activist, has complained to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights(NCPCR) in December 2018 that Sri Chaitanya Junior Kalasala, Saidabad and Gowtham Junior College, RTC Crossroads were collecting fee which is not as per the guidelines of the Board of Intermediate and that the colleges were also offering courses which were not authorised by the Board of Intermediate.

Following the complaint, the NCPCR forwarded it to district collector of Hyderabad who found that the colleges were collecting 10-15 times more fee than the stipulated amount specified by the Telangana State Educational Institutional Act.

The district collector forwarded the complaints to the district Intermediate education officer, Hyderabad asking them to submit the report of the action taken by the Board.

In March 2020, the Telangana State Intermediate Board imposed a penalty of Rs 1,00,000 on each of the colleges.

“As per the regulations of the Board, penalties will be imposed for violation of rule 14 (8) relating to collection of fee or donations beyond the prescribed amount either in cash or in-kind from pupils or parents or any other person on their behalf,” said the TSBIE in it’s note to both the colleges.

The activist also pointed out that according to the Telangana State Educational Institutions Act, 1983, the excess fee collected from students/parents by school management must be returned as mentioned in Section 9. The college managements collecting high fee should be penalised under the notification issued by the TS Education Department and the Commission under Section 15 (ii) of NCPCR Act 2005. In the past, the High Court also sentenced those involved in collecting high fee to 3-year jail term.

To reply to activist and NCPCR, the district collector said that “the secretary, Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education being the competent authority has been addressed for taking further necessary action,”

However, the activist puts his concern that after TSBIE authority will leave the matter confined with just penalty and will not move to court for jail terms.