Controversy Intensifies Over DBMS Principal’s Appointment to District Fee Committee

Parents and ‘Shiksha Satyagraha’ Demand Audit of Fee Hikes Since 2019

Jamshedpur: The controversy over the appointment of the DBMS School Principal to the District Level School Fee Determination Committee is intensifying. Under the banner of Shiksha Satyagraha, several parent representatives protested this decision on Tuesday.

The parents argued that appointing a representative from a school management that opposed the Jharkhand Education Tribunal (Amendment) Act 2017 is an injustice. They noted that the institution filed a petition in the High Court in 2019, kept the matter pending until 2024, and only recently withdrew it.

Ankit Anand, a BJP leader, submitted a report regarding this matter to the District Education Superintendent and the Deputy Commissioner, who serves as the Chairman of the District Level Fee Determination Committee. On Tuesday at 4:00 PM, a press conference was held in front of Little Flower School in Telco to protest the nomination of the DBMS Principal.

Anand states that granting a seat on a regulatory committee to educational institutions (or their representatives) who do not follow the law—or who attempt to delay and obstruct it—creates a Conflict of Interest. Members of Shiksha Satyagraha insist that committee positions should only be reserved for principals of schools that have respected or not opposed the government’s fee regulations.

Parents have demanded a district-level review of all fee increases implemented by private schools between 2019 and 2026. They pointed out that according to regulations, fees should not increase by more than 10% every two years, yet many schools have allegedly violated this rule.

The protesters stated that alongside DBMS, more than 25 private schools—including Little Flower—have been involved in legal battles against the fee law since 2019. They argue that such institutions should be barred from the District Level Fee Committee.