DAY 5: GST AMENDMENT BILL ALSO CLEARED AMID UPROAR Delhi Assembly draws the line on fees

The fifth day of the Delhi Assembly's Monsoon Session on Friday saw the BJP-led government pass its first-ever legislation to regulate fee hikes by recognised private unaided schools, alongside heated debates on the GST Amendment Bill, a scathing CAG report on labour welfare, and policy measures to curb illegal borewells.

- AIMAN FATIMA

NEW DELHI:

The Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees Bill, 2025 was cleared after a four-hour discussion. All eight amendments moved by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were rejected. Forty-one BJP MLAs and 17 AAP legislators were present during the vote. Speaker Vijender Gupta said the Bill will be sent to Lt Governor V.K. Saxena for approval.

The Bill, tabled by Education Minister Ashish Sood on Monday, extends prior government approval for fee hikes to all private unaided schools, replacing the earlier rule that applied only to about 350 schools on government land. "All private unaided schools in Delhi, irrespective of where they are built, will now need prior permission before raising their fees," Sood said.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta called the legislation a message that "education is not a commercial enterprise" and "the first time a government is openly standing alongside the parents of school children in Delhi". She added, "The AAP is looking sideways now as the BJP government did what it could not do while being in power."