"On Friday, the high court reprimanded the Delhi government and MCD for failing to provide textbooks to more than 200,000 students."
According to Ashok Aggarwal, who filed a petition regarding the failure
to supply textbooks to more than 200,000 students in government and municipal
corporation schools in Delhi, the tongue-lashing delivered by the Delhi High
Court to the Arvind Kejriwal-led government is thoroughly justified.
Aggarwal criticized the government's portrayal of running top-notch
educational institutions in advertisements, contrasting it with the stark
reality of overcrowded classrooms lacking basic amenities like water facilities.
He emphasized witnessing numerous instances of 140 students or more crammed
into a single class in both Delhi government and MCD-run schools.
Aggarwal, a lawyer, underscored the obligation of the Delhi government
under the Right to Education (RTE) Act to ensure fundamental facilities in MCD
schools. He highlighted that despite the court's intervention leading to the
provision of notebooks, textbooks are still pending, depriving students of
essential learning materials as mandated by the RTE Act.
The high court, led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet
Pritam Singh Arora, criticized the AAP government on Friday, accusing it of
prioritizing party politics over national interests. The bench remarked that
the government's actions demonstrated a clear placing of political interests
above the well-being of the students, which it described as an extreme display
of arrogance of power.
Additionally, the court noted the recent street protests organized by
the AAP against the arrest of Chief Minister Kejriwal by the Enforcement
Directorate in connection with an alleged liquor policy scam, highlighting the
ongoing tensions between the party and law enforcement authorities.