TNI Bureau: Odisha government directed the private schools authorities in Twin City of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to reserve 25% seats for students from poor families. The order is a major blow to the private schools, which have been seen increasing school fees double-triple in the recent past.

School and Mass Education Department warned that strong action will be taken against the school authorities as per the Right to Education (RTE) Act if the directive gets violated. The decision was taken to implement the RTE ACT in a full-fledge manner.

As per the government’s directive, if the reserved seats for poor students remain vacant, the distance will be maintained and the school authorities can not be allowed to fill up the seats for three months.

However, the school authorities are skeptical about the decision, asking the School and Mass Education Department to make it clear how much the government will pay for the poor students.