Private schools in UP now under RTI purview

All private schools in Uttar Pradesh will now be under the purview of the Right to Information Act (RTI) and will have to compulsorily provide the information sought under the Act.

This will bring relief to students and their parents, running from pillar to post, for getting information from unaided, privately managed schools.

The State Information Commission (SIC) has given this ruling and state information commissioner, Pramod Kumar Tiwari, in his order, sought appointment of public information officers in private schools.

That unaided private schools should be under the purview of RTI Act had been a matter of debate for quite some time.

Following an appeal filed by one Sanjay Sharma in respect to two reputed private schools of Lucknow, the SIC asked the chief secretary to instruct private school administrators to appoint officers to facilitate people to get information under the RTI Act, 2005.

Private schools did not provide information under RTI on the grounds that they were not funded by the state and were outside the purview of the Act.

However, the Supreme Court had ruled that if the development authority of a city provides land to a private school at concessional rates, the school will be considered adequately funded by the state.

The SIC also propounded that the district education officer is bound to give all the information mentioned in the form to the petitioner on demand.