Consider allotting vacant RTE seats : Upa Lokayukta

The Upa Lokayukta has directed the Commissioner for Public Instruction to consider the allotment of unfilled RTE seats to eligible students who did not get seat in the online process.

The Department of Public Instructions (DPI) is considering the surrender of unfilled seats to the respective institutions, say parents.

The DPI had allotted seats to eligible children under the RTE quota through an online system. However, there were still several grievances about irregularities in the preparation of the online list itself. “The process of online selection is already over and it is not possible to change it now. However, in some schools seats under the RTE quota are vacant and according to the department these seats will be surrendered to the schools. There are several parents whose children were not selected online. These children are eligible as many of them belong to the economically weaker section of the society,” Upalokayukta Justice Subhash B Adi said.

The Upalokayukta has directed the Commissioner to reconsider the proposal to surrender unfilled seats to the schools. “The selection could be done only for those who did not get seat in the online process, though they were eligible. Accordingly, the respective BEOs can be directed to prepare a list of vacant seats in their jurisdiction and based on the number of eligible children, the seats may be allotted by means of a lottery system in case they are lesser than the number of applicants,” Justice Adi said.

The Upa Lokayukta has directed the department to submit an action taken report in this regard on June 25.