Srinagar, Apr 1: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has asked authorities to file a list of government aided schools which are imparting free education as per the Act in Jammu & Kashmir.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation, the court also sought status report regarding formulating of necessary rules to implement provisions of Right to Education Act in J&K.
“Status report submitted by the UT Administration on 05.06.2023 mentions in para 3 thereof that in order to effectively implement the provisions of the Act, the Department/answering respondent are in the process of formulating rules under Right to Education Act so as to provide proper mechanism to implement each and every provision of the Act in letter and spirit,” the court said, adding, “In view of the stand taken by the UT Administration we would require the respondent authorities to inform this Court as to the status of the progress of the work or process initiated inasmuch formulating necessary rules to implement the provisions of Right to Education Act.”
“If the rules have not been framed, the inference we can draw is that the aforesaid Act has not been implemented properly which in our view may amount to a serious infraction of the constitutional obligation of the State as the Right to Education is a guaranteed Fundamental Right under Article 21,” the court said and ordered listing of the PIL on May 15 “allowing the State an opportunity to provide the necessary status report.”
While submitting the status report, the court said, the authorities shall also file the list of government-aided schools which are imparting free education as per the Act in J&K.
