The Hindu : New Delhi News : BJP flays DDA for auctioning school land at high prices

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 03, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

BJP flays DDA for auctioning school land at high prices

Staff Reporter

Threatens to launch agitation along with parents' bodies

NEW DELHI: Criticising the Delhi Development Authority for auctioning land for schools at very high prices in the Capital, the Bharatiya Janata Party has said that such steps would make good school education out of reach of the common man.

Threatening to launch a city-wide agitation along with different parents' bodies if DDA failed to change its policy, senior BJP leader Vijay Goel said last week DDA auctioned two schools plots.

"A two-acre plot at Dwarka went under the hammer for about Rs.20 crores, while another school plot of the same size at Narela received a bid amount of about Rs.9 crores," he added.

"When school authorities are getting land for crores, it is obvious that they will charge exorbitant fees from students to recover this cost. So, only those belonging to rich class will be able to send their wards there and others will have to look towards government schools only. It is a ploy of the government and the public school lobby to deprive ordinary citizens from good education," he alleged.

Terming the move as anti-people, the former Union Minister said he has apprised Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy of the drawbacks of the DDA's decision. "The land being sold at higher prices belongs to the public and all citizens should benefit from it. Such move will increase school fees manifold making even elementary education out of reach of poor families. If the government is serious about checking commercialisation of education, it should itself build schools on the land it proposes to sell so that more people could gain from it," the BJP leader demanded.

The government has decided against allotting or auctioning sites for primary education, it should also do the same for secondary and senior secondary schools.

Land for schools must be used to build government schools and not public schools that was making education costlier, Mr. Goel said.

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