Nursery admission: Delhi HC rejects Kejriwal govt's plea to scrap management quota

New Delhi: In a move that can prove to be a major setback for the Arvind Kejriwal government, Delhi High Court on Tuesday rejected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's plea to scrap the management quota in nursery admission.

The AAP government had defended before the Delhi high court its decision to scrap management quota in nursery admission in the capital saying it “is wholly non-transparent and is susceptible to misuse”.

On January 6, Chief Minister Kejriwal had said the decision to scrap the management quota was taken to bring in more transparency in the admission process, while the existing provision of 25 percent seats for students from poor families would remain in place.

The government had also said that by way of the January 6 notification, it did not prescribe any criteria, but only asked the private schools to adopt criteria which were "fair, just and reasonable".

Currently, the schools keep 20 percent or even more seats under the management quota, while 25 percent seats are reserved for students from economically weaker sections. The remaining are open for the general category.

The management quota had been recommended by expert Ganguly Committee formed by a division bench of Delhi High Court and accepted, approved and implemented by the Delhi government in its order of 2007, noted the court.