LoP Atishi urges Delhi CM to take immediate action on fee hike in private schools

New Delhi [India], April 9 (ANI): AAP MLA and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Atishi on Wednesday reiterated to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to take immediate action on the fee hike by private schools.
Atishi called for an order to stop the increased fees and for schools to reimburse parents who have already paid the revised fees.
In her letter to the Delhi CM, Atishi claimed that Bharat Arora, President of the Action Committee of Unaided Private Schools, has been actively advocating for the fee increases.
She highlighted Arora's close ties to the BJP, revealing that he is a member of the BJP Delhi State Executive and leads the BJP Teachers' Cell. She also pointed out Arora's campaign efforts for the BJP in the Shalimar Bagh constituency, raising questions about potential collusion between the BJP and Arora, which she claims could have influenced the post-election fee hikes.
"When we studied the root cause of this. We came across a prominent name, Bharat Arora, who has always fought legal battles for increasing fees of private schools. Arora, President of Action Committee of Unaided Private Schools, has always been an active voice against the Delhi Government and has filed court cases in favour of increasing fees of private schools in Delhi," the AAP leader said.
"On further scrutiny, we came to know that this person is not only a member of the BJP Delhi State Executive but also leads the BJP Teachers' Cell. This person had actively campaigned for the BJP during the assembly elections in Delhi. His social media posts show that Bharat Arora campaigned for you in your constituency, Shalimar Bagh. Therefore, this raises a serious question: Is there a direct collusion between the BJP and Sh. Bharat Arora that has led to this increase in fees after elections," Atishi said.
The Delhi Assembly LoP further claimed that on April 6, 2025, the current Education Minister of Delhi, Ashish Sood, met with private school representatives.
"During this meeting, private schools were assured that they would be allowed to raise fees once the protests of parents and Aam Aadmi Party died down. It was apparently stated that the Delhi Government will bring a notification allowing a 10% increase in school fees every year, without any audits. Since Ashish Sood is a very senior minister in your cabinet, we can only assume that this decision has your green signal as well. If this notification is issued, this will have a huge financial impact on parents who send their children to these schools," she said.
Earlier, on April 7, Atishi wrote a letter to the Delhi CM over the same issue.
On Tuesday, several parents staged demonstrations in front of DPS, Dwarka, over the recent fee hike in the national capital's schools. (ANI)