Srinagar: Mayor Srinagar Municipal Corporation Junaid Azim Mattu and Private Schools are at logger heads over fee waiver for students.
Few days back Mattu wrote a letter to District Development Commissioner Srinagar, proposing a category-wise fee waiver for private school students.
“To keep in view the cascading economic impact of the current situation, you are requested to instruct all the private educational institutions in Srinagar to implement a category-wise monthly fee waiver for private school students,” he said in the letter, a copy of which lies with KINS.
He also said there should be no fee waiver for those kids whose both parents are salaried government employees or registered private firm employees (and there has been no withholding of salary from an employer in the present lockdown).
“30% waive off in monthly fees in case both parents are self-employed or business owners with IT returns showing a collective annual income of more than Rs. 600000. 40% waive off in monthly fee in case one parent is salaried, government or registered private firm employee (and there has been no withholding of salary from employer) or one parent is self-employed or business owner,” he said.
He also proposed waive off fee in other categories.
On this District Development Commissioner responded, “In follow up to our discussion on the issue, we are initiating a process to reach out to the stakeholders and evolve a mutually workable mechanism. Will keep posted.”
However, this has not gone well within the Private Schools Association.
In a statement on Thursday its President G N Var termed the recent move by Mayor SMC and certain officials in the administration to publicly discuss “ill-planned fee waiver strategy as diversionary tactics to hide their failure in controlling COVID-19 spread”.
“At the time when all of our energies should be focused on controlling the spread of COVID-19, Srinagar Municipal Corporation Mayor shoots a letter to Deputy Commissioner Srinagar demanding an ill-conceived fee waiver plan be put into place. We fail to understand what is going on in the minds of people at the helm of affairs. World is battling of the biggest health tragedies and in our part of world some are happy to play politics amidst it. Perhaps they know that schools are soft targets, they garners more news coverage and will help them appear some sort of saviours to general public,” said Var. “We see it as a diversionary tactic aimed to hide their failure, which is evident everywhere. They hope nobody will question them about how they are dealing with this epidemic situation.”
The Association termed the letter and its content as a way to befool people and an attempt to take away attention from the inefficiencies of the administration. “For almost a month our educational institutes are shut down and we are in a lockdown. Our Association was one of the first to offer our schools, their vehicles and other resources to government to use in the fight against coronavirus. We started a charity programme to help families in distress, besides trying to teach students at home. Every section of the society is doing its bit to help ward off the disease,” said Var.
Reacting to War, Mattu Friday said, “I suggest a fee waiver for children of daily wagers, single parents and self-employed parents from private educational institutes and some rag-tag pvt schools’ association says I’m doing this to garner publicity and hide the administration’s failure against #Covid19. Has never been a proponent of interfering into free market economics-even private educational enterprises. However if you can’t waive the monthly fee for children of parents who are struggling to put food on the table in this crisis please anticipate a heavy hand now.”
He claimed he would not allow “this motley crew of clearly self-seeking individuals and institutions to fleece parents in the midst of this lockdown”.
“What the administration does is for the administration to decide but beware SMC can enact and enforce a lot of laws within the city limits.”
“Sitting with officers and legal team today to now ensure that daily-wage earning and self-employed parents of children are NOT fleeced while they try to survive this lockdown. And I assure the private schools association – there will be enforcement of every single regulation,” he added. (KINS)