Over Rs10 cr in excess being charged by DAV Public School, alleges PPA

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 10

The Punjab Parents Association (PPA) has found that DAV Public School, Amritsar, is charging an excess fee of Rs 17,340 per student annually, more than its counterpart in Ludhiana.

In a communiqué to the school, the PPA alleged that keeping in view the strength of students, over Rs 10 crore in excess were being charged every year by the school.

It stated that DAV Public School, Amritsar, was charging an excess amount of Rs 17,340 per annum from the parents of Class VI and VII wards, which was unjustified.

In a comparative table, it showed that DAV Public School here had annual charges of Rs 9,000 whereas its counterpart in Ludhiana charged half of it at Rs 4,500. There was a gap of Rs 2,100 in the tuition fee as the Amritsar school charged Rs 7,200 but that of Ludhiana charged Rs 5,100. Similarly, there was a wide gap of Rs 4,440 in the miscellaneous charges as the Amritsar branch cornered Rs 6,110 while its Ludhiana school charged Rs 1,670.

PPA president MK Sharma said surprisingly, both the schools were being run by the same management but the fee setup was totally different. He added that there was no logic of charging such a high fee from the border city which economically comes after Ludhiana. He added that 15 per cent of the total annual fee fell under other expenses which was totally illogical and unethical.

He said the school was directly managed by the DAV College Management Committee, New Delhi, and such a wide gap in the fee could not be done without deliberation.

He equated the surplus fee being charged to “Jazia”, a kind of tax charged by the Mugal rulers from non-Muslims. He said the school was being run on a land bought from the government on subsidised rates and enjoying tax exemption had reduced it into a ‘teaching shop’ which worked on the principles of business rather than spreading education. He added that it was a matter on record that the institute always issued photostat receipts of fees under different heads without any explanation, which was totally illegal and not tenable in the eyes of law.

Meanwhile, it is pertinent to mention here that an inquiry committee constituted under the District Education Officer (Secondary) carried out the investigation of fee set-up of many private schools. It found many discrepancies in the schools’ earnings and expenditure.