This refers to the Supreme Court verdict upholding the Right to Education Act (RTE), which has made it mandatory on the part of non-minority unaided schools, aided and government schools to reserve 25 per cent of their seats for poor children between the age of 6 and 14.

The foremost question in one's mind is if the state can ascertain ‘who is poor' and ‘who isn't poor'.

Second, wouldn't this encourage private schools, to follow the ‘Rob Peter to pay Paul' principle — collecting huge capitation fees. Third, exempting unaided minority institutions from the purview of the RTE Act is unacceptable.

S. Ramakrishnasayee

Ranipet

AP's advantage

Regarding “AP: An area of darkness” ( Business Line , April 12), despite political uncertainty, Andhra Pradesh has performed well on the following fronts: High farm output, number one State in poultry and fisheries and No. 2 in dairy; and low poverty levels in the South compared with Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. In power generation, AP is among the first three States, but is a provider of free power to agri pumpsets.

Sujeeth

e-mail

Related Topics