HC revises income limit from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for EWS quota students

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered that children belonging to families with annual income up to Rs 2.5 lakh can seek admission to schools in the national capital under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) quota, modifying an earlier order passed by a single judge bench of the court.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora stayed certain directions issued by a single judge of the high court in the December 5, 2023 judgment which had raised the threshold income limit from Rs 1 Lakh to Rs 5 lakh annually until the government amended the relevant law.

The high court passed the interim order on an appeal filed by the Delhi government challenging the single judge's decision.

The single judge had also directed the Delhi government to immediately do away with the mechanism of self-declaration of income by parents and devise an appropriate framework for continuation of free seats for EWS in schools.

The Delhi government's Directorate of Education (DoE) shall frame a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for income verification and regular monitoring of the eligibility criteria, it had said.

Delhi government's standing counsel (Civil) Santosh Kumar Tripathi submitted that the sudden increase in the threshold income will adversely impact the deserving candidates from families with income up to Rs 1 lakh, potentially leading to reduced chances of securing admission under EWS quota.

He contended that this arbitrary increase violates the fundamental right to equality and imposes unreasonable restrictions on the right to education.

Tripathi said the increase of threshold income limit to Rs 5 lakh will result in injustice, especially to children of manual labourers, and may hinder the intended purpose of providing free and compulsory education to EWS.

He said the existing policy of relying on self-declaration is appropriate and does not require any change. Even if the directions in the December 5, 2023 judgement have to be implemented, the state would require time to change the system, he added.

The single judge had passed the order in a case where a man had managed to secure his son's admission to the city's reputed Sanskriti School under the EWS category by falsifying birth and income certificates.

The court had dismissed the petition moved by the boy challenging cancellation of his admission under the EWS quota. It had, however, allowed him to continue studying there as a general category student.

While dealing with the Delhi government's appeal, the division bench issued notice to the school and the child to respond in the matter and listed it for further hearing in August.

The single judge had said the child, who has been continuing with his studies since 2013, was not at fault and shall not be made to suffer for his father's misdeeds. It had imposed Rs 10 lakh as costs on the boy's father for securing admission of his son by illicit means thereby denying a deserving candidate an opportunity to study in a school of repute.

To ensure the implementation of the Right To Education (RTE) Act, the single judge had said the Delhi government, after assessing the prevailing economic conditions in the city and other relevant factors, shall expeditiously take a decision to increase the existing threshold income of Rs 1 lakh annually to a commensurate amount which corresponds to the living standards of the intended beneficiaries of the scheme.

Needless to observe, the criteria must be scientific and must be based on actual data. Till the aforesaid exercise is done and appropriate amendment is made in the scheme, the required income under Clause 2(c) of 2011 Order shall be considered to be increased to Rs 5 lakh instead of Rs 1 lakh as all the other states have the threshold amount in question to the tune of almost Rs 8 lakhs, the court had said.

Under the Right to Education Act, 25 per cent seats are reserved for the economically poor in private unaided schools, and as per the Delhi School Education (Free seats for Students belonging to Economically Weaker Sections and Disadvantaged Group) Order, 2011, schools are required to admit children belonging to EWS in class one to the extent of at least 25 percent of the strength of that class and provide free and compulsory elementary education till its completion.

The court had also highlighted the need to revisit the income criterion set out for availing the benefits of the EWS reservation scheme in schools and said when the minimum wage of an unskilled labour in Delhi was Rs 17,494 per month, it was too far-fetched to assume that the total parental income of a child seeking admission under EWS category and living in a metropolitan city shall be below Rs 1 lakh annually.