New Delhi, Jul 30 (IANS): The Directorate of Education of Delhi Government said that it will take over the management of Bal Bharati School in Rohini over alleged arbitrary fee hike and has received the required approvals from the Lieutenant Governor's office, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Thursday.

The Delhi government had issued orders several times to withdraw the arbitrarily increased fees by the school, but the school management has failed every time to comply with these orders. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had approved the proposal of the Directorate of Education to take over the management of Bal Bharati School. This file was sent to the LG, which has now been approved, Delhi government said in statement.

"If any school increases fees arbitrarily then strict action will be taken against it," he added in an official statement.

According to DoE officials, the department had conducted an in-depth inspection of the financial statements of Bal Bharati School for the financial years 2016-2017 to 2017-2018.

"During the detailed inspection of the records, it was found that the total funds with the school for the year 2017-2018 were Rs 23.81 crore. Out of this amount, Rs 20.94 crore was estimated to be spent. Even after spending Rs 20.94 crore the school management had a net surplus of about Rs 2.87 crore," it stated.

"After this, the Directorate of Education came to the conclusion that there is no need for the school management to increase the fees," it read.

In this regard, the DoE refused to accept the fee hike proposed by the school for the academic session 2017-2018," a senior DoE official said.

The DoE further noted that apart from this, the fees increased by the school in 2017-18 had to be adjusted further. But, in the meantime, the Delhi government again received complaints from the parents that the school had increased the fees several times in 2018-19 and 2019-20, and further asked them to deposit arrears.

"In view of this situation, the Delhi government has decided to initiate the process of taking over the management of the school, and the file was sent to the LG for approval. This file was therefore approved by the LG and further proceedings are in progress," the official added.

The Delhi government had yesterday approved taking over management of Apeejay School in Sheikh Sarai over the same issue.