RTE Fee Reimbursement Denial Sparks Row Among Pune Schools Over Technical Grounds
Pune, 13th April 2025: Over 450 schools in Pune district have been denied reimbursements under the Right to Education (RTE) Act due to what school associations describe as minor technical discrepancies, sparking criticism of the education department’s approach.
The Maharashtra Rajya Shikshan Sanstha Mahamandal and the Independent English Schools Association (IESA) jointly raised concerns during a press conference on Saturday, alleging that the education department is rejecting legitimate claims for the 25% reserved RTE seats based on issues such as unregistered lease agreements, slight mismatches in address records, and missing mentions of “tuition fees” in Parent Teachers’ Association resolutions.
IESA president Jagruti Dharmadhikari criticized the department for enforcing new conditions retrospectively. “The documents we submitted were as per the requirements for the 2023-24 academic year. But now, authorities are applying rules from a government resolution (GR) issued in 2025. Asking for compliance with rules that didn’t exist at the time is both unfair and legally questionable,” she said.
Dharmadhikari also pointed out that in several cases, schools submitted documents showing student admissions, but were still denied reimbursement because scanned copies were deemed unclear or accounts were found to be in the institution’s name instead of the school name.
In response to the growing backlash, Sharad Gosavi, Director of Primary Education, assured that eligible schools should not suffer due to procedural lapses. “I’ve spoken with the Pune district education officer and instructed that no school should be denied reimbursement if students have indeed been admitted under RTE,” Gosavi said. “If there are document-related issues, they should be resolved through clarification, not by withholding funds.”
School administrators are now urging the education department to process pending reimbursements and consider forming a grievance redressal mechanism to avoid future disputes and delays.
