Private schools of the state under the purview of the Right to Information Act

State Information Commissioner Pramod Kumar Tiwari

Lucknow, July 14, 2021

All private schools in Uttar Pradesh will be considered under the purview of the Right to Information Act. Now private schools will be compelled to provide the information sought under the Right to Information Act.

State Information Commissioner Pramod Kumar Tiwari has given this arrangement while disposing of the appeal planned in the matter of Sanjay Sharma Vs Information Officer/Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow today.

He has recommended to the Chief Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Government that in view of the importance of public information, private school administrators have also been instructed to appoint Public Information Officers.

It is noteworthy that the appellant Sanjay Sharma had filed a second appeal in the State Information Commission, Lucknow under the RTI Act in respect of two reputed private schools of Lucknow to Information Officer/ Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow.

In accordance with the law laid down by the Supreme Court of India in the DAV College Trust and Management Society and others vs. Director of Public Instruction and others case, 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.

It is noteworthy that private schools did not provide information under the Right to Information Act-2005 on the ground that they were not funded by the state and were outside the purview of the Act.

The commission also propounded in this case that after the passage of the Right to Free and Compulsory Child Education Act in the year 2009, all such schools which are covered by the above Act, under the Act and Uttar Pradesh Right to Free and Compulsory Child Education Rules-2011. Certain information mentioned in Form-1 and 2 is required to be given to the District Education Officer.

In such a situation, the District Education Officer holds the information mentioned in the above forms, and he is bound to give all the information mentioned in the forms to the petitioner on demand under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act.