School faces Delhi govt's flak for its BJP membership drive

Delhi government on Wednesday slapped a show cause notice on a well-known private school and began a probe against it for allegedly asking its teachers and students to seek membership of Bharatiya Janata Party, evoking sharp reactions from both the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress.

Ordering the probe against RyanInternationalSchool, which has campuses in Vasant Kunj, Rohini and Mayur Vihar, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the government will not tolerate such “unacceptable practices”. The school has been given three days to reply to the show cause notice.

“It has also been reported that the school withheld the payment of salaries to the staff till they completed the membership target. If it is found to be true, the Delhi government will not tolerate this unacceptable practice,” the state government said in a statement.

Significantly, Director of Ryan International Schools in Delhi Grace Pinto is an office bearer of BJP.

When contacted, Neti Srinivasan, chief operating officer of Ryan International Group of Institutions denied forcing school staff and students to take membership of BJP.

However, COO said Pinto has been working on strengthening the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in all our schools as she was nominated as one of the navratnas for the same.

Sisodia has also directed Education Department to send an advisory to all the schools of the national capital to desist from any kind of political activity and not to indulge in “forcible membership” of any political outfit.

Reacting sharply, Congress leader Digvijay Singh termed the school’s alleged act as beginning of a “fascist rule”, implying that the BJP government was imposing its ideology on people. “I am not surprised. It is beginning of fascist rule.”

AAP also termed it as a matter of “grave concern” and said this raises “alarm bells over forcing of one particular ideology in the society through various mediums and least of all through institutions of education.”

Delhi education department officials said focus of its probe was on whether the school authorities had asked staff including the teachers, and students to take BJP membership.

As per Ryan International School website, the group has a total of 106 educational institutions in 15 states. The group had started its first school in Mumbai in 1976.

Srinivasan said the school authorities in Delhi will send letters to parents to clarify the issue.

“Delhi government is committed to creating a positive academic environment in educational institutions and private schools should not cross limits of decency and appropriate public behaviour.

“They must desist from polluting young minds for petty political and monetary gains,” the government release said.

Srinivasan said the group’s focus has been on developing a good learning environment for children.

“It pains us that at such a sensitive time of board exams a needless controversy is created, which could impact the performance of students. We seem to have become a soft target for slander by people with vested interests,” he said.