Last Updated:
The district administration has intensified its scrutiny of private schools operating in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur, targeting eight prominent institutions for alleged financial misconduct. These schools have been ordered to return a total of Rs 54 crore to parents after being fined Rs 2 lakh each for unauthorized fee hikes.
The action follows a thorough investigation under the Madhya Pradesh Private School Fee and Other Subjects Regulation Act of 2017. The administration's probe uncovered that these schools had raised their fees without proper authorization or notification to the district administration or the district education committee. The increased fee structures, applied in previous academic sessions, were deemed illegal, prompting the latest enforcement measures.
Following an investigation, the administration instructed all private schools to revert to charging the previously agreed fees instead of the increased rates. In a decisive move, the administration also ordered the owners of the eight implicated private schools to deposit a fine of Rs 2 lakh each into the bank account of the Directorate of Public Instruction within 30 days.
The investigation revealed that these eight schools had collected over Rs 54 crore in fees from more than 74,000 students. The administration has mandated that this amount be refunded to the parents.
The administration's latest actions have caused significant disruption among private school owners. Earlier in May, Collector Deepak Saxena led a swift response against schools engaging in arbitrary fee increases.
During that period, FIRs were filed against the principals and owners of over a dozen schools, leading to their arrests. These schools are alleged to have formed an organized network in Jabalpur, extracting billions of rupees from parents over recent years. The ongoing investigation revealed that the total amount involved exceeds Rs 200 crore.
