India News | Delhi Govt Issues Show-cause Notice to Vikaspuri Private School Operating Without Fire Safety Clearance
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Delhi Government has issued a Show Cause Notice to the management of a private school in Vikaspuri after a surprise inspection exposed life-threatening safety hazards and financial fraud.
New Delhi [India], July 30 (ANI): The Delhi Government has issued a Show Cause Notice to the management of a private school in Vikaspuri after a surprise inspection exposed life-threatening safety hazards and financial fraud.
According to the release, the school was found operating 43 classrooms illegally without any fire safety clearance, running massive unauthorised tin-shed structures, illegally extracting groundwater, exploiting teachers through unpaid salaries, enforcing unauthorised fee hikes, and running senior secondary classes without valid recognition.
Delhi Education Minister Shri Ashish Sood has directed the Department of Education to initiate the strongest possible action against the school's management.
The school has been given 7 (Seven) days to file its reply, failing which the government will proceed with immediate takeover.
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Education Minister Shri Ashish Sood said, "Our government has absolute zero tolerance for any compromise on the safety of our children. This school was operating dozens of illegal classrooms with zero fire safety clearance, putting thousands of young lives at risk daily. When an institution constructs hazardous structures, loots public funds, underpays its teachers, and ignores the law, we will act decisively. We are prepared to completely take over the management to protect our students."
A surprise inspection conducted by a DoE committee exposed a complete breakdown of safety, financial, and administrative responsibility:
According to the release, the school has a Fire NOC approved for only 39 rooms but was actively operating 82 rooms--meaning 43 classrooms were running illegally with zero fire safety clearance. It also constructed a massive, unauthorised tin-shed structure with 30 rooms, an illegal basement, and an unauthorised third floor.
Some classrooms had only a single exit door, and the designated passage for fire engines and emergency vehicles was completely blocked. The school was running an unauthorised borewell on campus without permission, violating environmental and NGT guidelines, the release added.
The school's provisional recognition for its Senior Secondary classes expired on March 31, 2023. It has been operating senior secondary classes illegally for over three years, risking the academic future of its students.
The school repeatedly raised fees without DoE approval, including unauthorised 20% to 25% hikes during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also doubled "Smart Classroom Fees" arbitrarily to extract money from parents.
Despite generating massive financial surpluses, the school did not pay teachers at par with government scales and delayed staff salaries by up to four months.
Opaque and Nepotistic Management: The school's governing body consisted of close family members, creating serious conflicts of interest, and failed to produce identification documents for verification.
The Directorate of Education has called upon the school's management to explain why the government should not execute the following actions: Government Takeover: Immediate takeover of the school's management by the Delhi Government under Section 20 of the Delhi School Education Act (DSEA), 1973.
As per the release, the official recommended that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) immediately cancel the lease of the highly concessional public land allotted to the school. (ANI)
(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)