JOIN USThe High Court on Thursday sought to know whether the word 'minority' in terms of linguistic and religious institutions has been defined by the State government.
Hearing the petitions filed by Kodagu Academy of Education and Culture and Citizen Education Society seeking directions from the court to exempt them from allotting 25 percent seats under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, Justice B V Nagarathna sought clarification from the government on the ‘minority status’ granted to education institutions.
The academy, in its petition, claimed that it belongs to a linguistic minority community. However, Advocate General (AG) Ravivarma Kumar said that the school has also applied for minority status and its application is still under verification.
The bench asked what was the government's stand on determining the 'minority status'. The AG said the government had issued a notification on June 18, 2014 by modifying the percentage of minority persons in the (educational institutitions’) management from 75 to 25 per cent. However, the bench said that there is a need for more clarity on who should apply and who would be granting the minority status.
It also observed and asked if the government is aware that many private schools are creating a clamour claiming that they belong to minority status to get exemption from RTE Act.
Similarly, the Citizen Education Society, claiming to have procured religious minority status in the year 1986 from Karnataka Minorities Commission, also sought exemption from allotting 25 per cent of its seats under RTE.