Non-payment biggest issue for institutions

Non-payment biggest issue for institutions

Kevin.Mendonsa@timesgroup.com

17.09.2021

Private schools, especially those catering to students from lower income groups in rural areas in the coastal districts, are in financially doldrums due to the pandemic and stringent government rules.

Managements of low-budget schools say another closure — perhaps for a possible third wave — would be the last straw. They say the biggest problem is poor fee collection because of which, they cannot pay their staff. Other reasons include delay in RTE reimbursement and stringent renewal rules.

“Since parents are not paying fees on time, staff are at the receiving end,” said Moosabba P Beary, vice president, English Medium Schools Association, Dakshina Kannada district. The district has about 300 private English medium schools. “Some schools have not paid salaries to staff ever since the pandemic struck and teachers were forced into menial jobs to run their families. Some relatively new schools are on the verge of bankruptcy,” Beary said.

Beary said by ordering schools to cut fees by 30% and warning managements not to force parents to pay, the government has been unfair to private schools. “If there is another wave of infections and a lockdown is imposed, many schools will have to shut for good,” he said.

Rasheed Vittal of Ukkuda Public School in Vittal said the government has increased renewal rules from 30 to 52. Some of them include obtaining fire and safety licences, PWD licence, health and hygiene certificates and child safety certificates.

“Every licence or certificate comes with a fee. How can cashstrapped schools pay when they are unable to even pay their staff?” Vittal said. “Besides, only some schools have received half the RTE reimbursement amounts.”

Another stakeholder said that the government can commence offline classes for LKG to grade five in phases. “Children should be allowed to come to campus thrice a week,” he said. When contacted, Malleswamy, DDPI of DK, said no school has requested for closure so far.

Fee imbroglio: Schools relieved but parents unhappy with court order SWEET & SOUR Pvt schools Said Govt’s 30% Fee Cut Order Created A Major Crisis

Fee imbroglio: Schools relieved but parents unhappy with court order

SWEET & SOUR Pvt schools Said Govt’s 30% Fee Cut Order Created A Major Crisis

45% Of Adult Population Suffers Persistent Pain

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:17.09.2021

While private school managements cheered the high court’s order on the issue of fees, parents associations were understandably dissatisfied.

The high court disposed of pleas by schools contesting the government’s diktat ordering a 30% tuition fee cut, by pointing out that the Supreme Court had settled the issue in a petition filed by unaided schools in Rajasthan. In that case, the SC had ordered schools not to charge more than 85% of fees collected in 2019-20 for the academic year 2020-21.

D Shashi Kumar, secretary, Association of Primary and Secondary Schools of Karnataka said: “When the government told us to reduce 30% of tuition fee and not charge any other fees, it worked out to a cut of almost 45%-50% of total fees. For many of us, it created a major crisis. The HC order is a welcome one. Many schools have already waived more than 30% fees. If parents are in a financial crisis, they can approach school managements for a waiver.”

Recognised Unaided Private Schools Association, another group of private schools, also welcomed the HC’s order.

Lokesh T, president of the association, said: “We welcome the HC move. Last year, in rural Karnataka, several parents were awaiting a government order to pay fees. We request the government to find a permanent solution to this problem.”

He said schools affiliated to the association are willing to waive fees this year too. “We gave a 30% concession last year and we will continue with it this year as well,” Lokesh said.

However, parents were an unhappy lot. Ganesh Poojary, member of Voice of Parents-Karnataka, said: “I can react only after reading the judgement copy. The Karnataka government had ordered schools not to collect anything other than tuition fee and to reduce it by 30%. Now it depends on what the HC order says. If they have kept the Karnataka government order in mind and reduced that 30% to a lower figure, it may not help us, but we are ready to accept it. But if the order says the reduction is on the overall fees [all other heads besides tuition fees], it is unacceptable.”

Many parents said the reduction is meagre and only symbolic.

‘Software error’ credits ₹964cr to two Katihar kids’ accounts

‘Software error’ credits ₹964cr to two Katihar kids’ accounts

Sanjeev Mishra@timesgroup.com

Katihar:17.09.2021

Two Class 6 students of a government school in Bihar's Katihar briefly had more millions in the bank than what their multiplication skills would have enabled them to calculate, courtesy a supposedly “software error” that credited Rs 902 crore and Rs 62 crore to their respective accounts.

Gurucharan Biswas and Ashish Kumar’s short-lived windfall was “rectified immediately” after Uttar Bihar Gramin Bank realised what had happened, district magistrate Udayan Mishra said on Thursday even as the two students recounted their fleeting tryst with crores of rupees they never got to spend.

On Tuesday, one Ranjit Das of Khagaria had been arrested for allegedly refusing to return a portion of the Rs 5.5 lakh wrongly credited to his account with the same bank in March last year. He told the police that he thought the money was part of a direct benefit transfer promised by PM Modi. In Katihar, both students received the mistakenly credited amounts in their accounts on Wednesday. They both study in a government school at Pastiya village of Azamnagar block.

"Due to a banking software error, one account was showing an inflated amount. In another instance, the amount appeared only in the printout of a receipt," the district magistrate said.

Lalan Biswas, mukhiya of Pastiya village, said, "Children receive money in their bank accounts every month to buy uniforms and books. When one of our students checked his balance on Thursday, he was surprised to see the amount. Another student did the same and he was in for a surprise, too."

When the students tried to withdraw some money, they realised that the "credits" were notional, Biswas said.

‘Cowshed’ law colleges slammed by Madras HC

‘Cowshed’ law colleges slammed by Madras HC

Chennai:17,09,2021

The Madras high court on Thursday deplored the trend of ‘cowshed’ law colleges mushrooming in the country, damaging the image of the lawyers.

It is a big issue that needs to be addressed to preserve the credibility of lawyers, the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu orally observed.

The bench made the observation when a PIL petition praying for a direction to the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to nominate retired/sitting judges as members of the council’s disciplinary committees came up.

The petitioner found fault with the present practice of nominating other lawyers as ‘judges’ of the committees. PTI

Value of DA assets much more: NGO

Value of DA assets much more: NGO

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:17.09.2021

The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) has estimated AIADMK former minister and Jolarpet strongman K C Veeramani’s disproportionate assets to be worth ₹28 crore. But the worth of the assets would have been much more had the agency ran checks for the past decade, said NGO Arappor Iyakkam.

The NGO had submitted a complaint to the DVAC a month ago stating that Veeramani has disproportionate assets worth ₹76 crore based on publicly available papers such as election affidavits and land registration documents. The fundamental difference is the check period considered by the agency, said Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor of Arappor Iyakkam.

In their complaint, Arappor had considered Veeramani and his family’s assets from 2011, which is when he became MLA. The DVAC’s check period is only from 2016, which was Veeramani’s second consecutive term as MLA and minister. “The FIR would have been more fool proof if DVAC had considered from 2011, when so much proof is available. The assets disproportionate to the known sources of income would have been bigger,” Jayaram said.

This would also be an issue legally, Jayaram said, explaining that this way only the assets acquired illegally from 2016 could be confiscated. The social activist said the FIR as such was still strong enough for the state government to get a conviction.

In their complaint last month, Arappor had included assets such as hotels, agricultural land, cars, high-end trucks and gold declared in the names of Veeramani, his wife, children and another relative who has been named as a dependent. It also submitted evidence of several fraudulent land deals. Veeramani had then denied all allegations to TOI, stating that he came from an extremely rich family and owned highend cars even in the 1970s. “I have not lied in my affidavits,” he had told TOI then.

Report on Jaya death within a month, probe panel tells SC

Report on Jaya death within a month, probe panel tells SC

17.09.2021

The Commission of Inquiry probing the death of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that it has examined 154 witnesses so far and only four witnesses are remaining, and it will be able to submit a report within a month in the matter.

The top court on April 26, 2019, had stayed the commission's proceedings on a plea by Apollo Hospital questioning the scope of inquiry. In September 2017, the Tamil Nadu government had set up the commission headed by Justice A. Arumughaswamy (retd). A bench of Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari, dealing with the application by the Tamil Nadu government asking it to vacate the stay on the proceedings of the commission, agreed to hear the case next Thursday.

Counsel appearing for the commission submitted it has examined over 154 witnesses and only four witnesses remain, and it will be in a position to submit its report within a month. The 154 witnesses, included 56 doctors attached to Apollo hospital, five doctors from AIIMS, 12 government doctors including the medical board of five doctors constituted by the Tamil Nadu government, 22 paramedical staff and other witnesses. The commission is probing the circumstances leading to the former chief minister's hospitalisation at Chennai's Apollo Hospital, and the 75 days of treatment, which culminated in her death on December 5, 2016. IANS

Pondy guv tones down vax message

Pondy guv tones down vax message

Tamilisai: I Said Necessary Not Mandatory

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Puducherry:17.09.2021

Union territory of Puducherry Lieutenant governor (additional charge) Tamilisai Soundararajan's statement on Thursday that government servants should have taken their Covid-19 vaccination before they get their salaries created a flutter. “If people want government benefits, those distributed during festivals, they should have taken their shots. How can they enjoy it if they fall sick,” asked the governor, participating in an event in Puducherry.

Civil rights' activists termed Tamilisai's comment 'unconstitutional' and cited a high court order that declared that the state cannot deny welfare schemes to the people, who have not taken the Covid vaccination. “I never said it was mandatory,” the governor told TOI. “Two months ago, I told govt servants that before they get their salaries, they should have taken the vaccination. I said 18+ students taking their examinations should have their vaccination certificates. My view is that everyone should take their shots,” she said.

At least 65% of the adult population in the Union Territory have taken their shots, said the governor. “In two weeks’ time we hope the entire UT would be vaccinated,” she said. Flagging off a cycle expedition on Thursday to create awareness among the public to get vaccinated for Covid-19 infection, the governor urged the people to extend support to the vaccination drive and make Puducherry a 100% vaccinated territory before October 2. "I strongly object to this arbitrary move by the lg. This is unconstitutional. A high court has held that the state cannot deny welfare measures for such whims. Several poor people depend on these government schemes," said civil rights' activist Saurav Das.

Das cited a Manipur high court order, which said, "State cannot seek to impose conditions upon the citizens so as to compel them to get vaccinated, be it by holding out a threat or by putting them at a disadvantage for failing to get vaccinated." "For the past one week, the vaccination drive has slackened in the Union Territory. As a doctor I am worried. The core of my talk was that if it is necessary, compel people, plead or persuade them to take their vaccination. Don’t interpret it as if it is something undemocratic. This is for the good of the people,” said the governor, adding that the number of cases were increasing again in Puducherry and that 95% of those admitted to ICU with Covid had not been vaccinated.