Possible Solutions

The RTE Act, in conjunction with the 93rd Constitutional Amendment, is bad for the country, and especially children. So what can be done?

- Shreyas Bhardwaj

NOW THAT IT is amply clear that the Right To Education Act, in conjunction with the 93rd Constitutional Amendment is a gross perversion of the principles of justice, we need to ask one incredibly important question: How do we save our educational institutions from this legislative perversion? What can be done?

The government has two options:

1. Pervert the law and its implementation even further with the aim of ensuring that as few educational institutions as possible come under the purview of the RTE Act. The NDA should realise that perverting an immoral law is a good thing and go ahead with no apprehensions.

Here are a few ways of doing so:

a. Through the National Policy for Women 2016 (currently being reviewed by a Group of Ministers appointed by Prime Minister Modi), the government can bring in exemptions from RTE to educational institutions run by trusts established or currently led by a woman. The stated reason for such an exemption should be that the government seeks to empower women and prevent unnecessary harassment of women in power.

Of course, such a move may be legally challenged and the Supreme Court may even stop the government from continuing with this.

But that would give the BJP a wonderful opportunity to talk in and outside the parliament about already existent exemptions to minorities courtesy the 93rd Amendment. Those that benefit from the current blatantly discriminatory legal regime wouldn’t want anything to affect the 93rd and this new exemption in all probability will meet with little opposition.