No.22/2/2010 – Welfare

Government of India

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

Department of Personnel and Training

Lok Nayak Bhawan, Khan Market,

New Delhi, dated 07.06.2016.

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Policy / Guidelines for setting up of Sanskriti type schools.

The success of the innovative and experimental project of setting up of SANSKRITI School has led to demands from various other regions of the country for setting up of such schools in those locations as well.

2. It is observed that All India Services as well as Central Services Officers face similar problems in other large metro cities where they are posted on transfer and where it becomes very difficult for them to secure admission for their children in schools. Similarly officers of all India services and State Civil Services also get frequently transferred from various stations within the State to state capital and they also face similar problems.

3. It is, therefore, view of the Government that as a welfare measure Government of India should also encourage and support opening of Sanskriti type Schools in other parts of the country.

4. Accordingly, a draft policy note for schools on the pattern of the Sanskriti School has been prepared and attached for comments of the Ministries/departments.

5. It is, therefore, requested to furnish comments of the Ministry/Department on the draft policy note for schools on the pattern of the Sanskriti School latest by 20th June, 2016 to this Department.

(Chirabrata Sarkar)

Under Secretary to the Government of India

Encl: As stated.

To

The Secretaries

All Ministries/Departments to the Government of India
No.22/2/2010 -Welfare
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel and Training

POLICY NOTE FOR SCHOOLS ON THE PATTERN OF SANSKRITI SCHOOL

Subject: Policy / Guidelines for setting up of Sanskriti type schools.
The Note relates to formulation of policy/guidelines for establishment of schools on the pattern of Sanskriti School at places outside Delhi.

Background

2. The Government, as a model employer, considers it part of its duty to take welfare measures to alleviate hardships being faced by its employees and from time to time has taken various measures for its employees’ welfare as these measures have the potential to impact performance and efficiency of the employees.
   2.1. Keeping with the spirit of cooperative federalism and need for a uniform system of administration, officers belonging to the All India Services (AIS) and the participating Group ‘A’ Services are borrowed under the Central Staffing Scheme (CSS) of the Government of India, to man middle and senior positions in the Government of India. The raison d’être of such scheme is the Centre’s need to get officers with experience and competence that can add value to the policy making process and go back equipped with skills that enhance their functional capabilities and competencies in their respective cadres. This two way movement is of mutual benefit to the service cadres and the Government of India. Thus CSS involves officers coming to Delhi on deputation and on completion of the tenure returning to their service cadre. While a substantial number of Central Deputation posts are in Delhi-NCR, there is large number of such Central deputation posts in other cities as well, in particular the state capital/ metropolitan cities.
   2.2 Officers of the All India and Central Services are transferred throughout the year. In spite of efforts to time the transfers in a manner that they would
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   coincide with the academic year, for several reasons, this has not been made always possible. Transfers involve relocation and one major problem faced by these officers upon transfer is to arrange for quality education for their children. Change in educational Board causes stress to children due to change in syllabus and books. Quite often schools refuse admission during the midacademic session. For this reason officers often do not relocate with their families, which adversely affects their efficiency and morale. The anxieties and difficulties faced by officers on this account surpass other anxieties associated with the transfer. Government considers it a part of its duty as an employer to alleviate these anxieties of officers which act as an impediment in smooth transition of officers form one station to another.
3. The problem was more acute in case of Delhi, where officers from All India as well as other Central Services come on deputation to Central Government in large numbers. This issue was discussed by a Committee of Secretaries in several meetings over 1988 to 1994.

Establishment of Sanskriti school, New Delhi

4. Sanskriti school was set up in the year 1998 to cater to the needs of officers of All India as well as Central Services Officers who come to Delhi transfer. This school was provided land at concessional rate as well as partial non-recurring capital grant for development of infrastructure by Government. The school is running in a self sustaining manner with recurring expenditure met by charging of fee etc. Thus there would be no recurring financial burden to the Government exchequer on account of recurring expenditure.
5. Over a short period of 10 years, this school has established itself as one of reputed schools of Delhi imparting high quality education. At present more than 2834 children are admitted to various classes up to class 12^{th } with majority of them being wards of officers of All India and Central Services who have been posted to Delhi on transfer. The school has fulfilled a major need of the officers and has been largely successful in attending to the problems pertaining to education of their children by Government officers coming to Delhi on transfer to man Government of India posts.
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Need for more Sanskriti type Schools.

6. The success of this innovative and experimental project of setting up of SANSKRITI School has led to demands from various other regions of the country for setting up of such schools in those locations as well. To illustrate it is proposed to set up Sanskriti Type school in State Capitals viz. (i) Lucknow, U.P for which 5 acre land has already been allotted at Chak Ganjariya by the State Government. (ii) Shillong, Meghalaya for which an Memorandum of Understanding with the State Government and 10 acres of land has been earmarked by State Government at Mawdinangdiang for the purpose.
7. It is observed that All India Services as well as Central Services Officers face similar problems in other large metro cities where they are posted on transfer and where it becomes very difficult for them to secure admission for their children in schools. Similarly officers of all India services and State Civil Services also get frequently transferred from various stations within the State to state capital and they also face similar problems.
8. It is, therefore, view of the Government that as a welfare measure Government of India should also encourage and support opening of Sanskriti type Schools in other parts of the country.

9 It is pertinent to mention that similar initiative have been taken for quite some time to cater to the educational needs of the children of the armed forces. Chain of Army, Navy and Air Force school are run under the aegis Army Welfare Education Society, Navy Education Society and IAF Educational and Cultural Society respectively. They are registered under the Societies Act. These schools are run on no profit no loss basis. The scales of accommodation for Defence Services authorize the provision of accommodation for children’s schools at military stations where such facilities are not available or inadequate education facilities are available and when it was not found feasible by the State authorities concerned to establish a children’s school. All these schools are established on re-appropriated Defence lands. Children of Armed forces get priority over others in admissions to these schools.

10. Even though Kendriya Vidyalaya exist in several cities of the country to cater to the educational needs of wards of Government employees, these do not fulfil the objectives to resolve the problems of transferable central Government employees in view of the following facts:
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i) Priority for admission to class II and above is given to children coming on transfer from other KVS and the scope of fresh admission for children of other transferred employees (whose children may not have studied in KVs before) is, therefore, limited;

ii) The policy of KVs to give priority on the basis of transfers suffered by the Government employees in previous seven years makes the admission position even more uncertain; and

iii) It is also noteworthy that Kendriya Vidyalayas are being run with a major grants from Government of India which includes the non-recurring (building) and non-recurring (maintenance, salary of teachers etc) and the wards are admitted with a highly subsidised fee. Thus opening of new Kendriya Vidyalayas lead to further drain on the resources of the Government both in recurring and non-recurring manner. On the other hand, the proposed Sanskriti Schools will require only a modest onetime non-recurring grant and thereafter, the non-recurring expenditure will be borne by the School through the fees collected from the children who are admitted. Thus, while providing the facility of quality education to the wards of central government servants under transfer, the schools so set up will not be a permanent drain on the State exchequer.

Court cases related to Sanskriti school.

11. The Hon’ble Delhi High Court acting on its own motion on a news item published in the year 2006 had vide its order dated 6.11.2015 proceeded to quash 60% quota reserved in Sanskriti school for children of transferable of Group A officers of union of India who enter service through Civil Services Examination.

The above-said order of High Court of Delhi dated 6.11.2015 has been challenged before the Hon’ble Supreme court. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in its interim order dated 21.01.2016 has stayed the judgment of High Court of Delhi. The Hon’ble Supreme Court on the suggestion of the learned Attorney General and as stated in the counter Affidavit file, directed that the Children of the following officers shall be included into 60% quota, which has been reserved for children of offices of Civil Services/ Defence cadre and allied services:
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“(i) All India Service Officers coming on transfer to Delhi on central deputation under the Central Staffing Scheme.

(ii) Indian Foreign Service officers coming to Delhi to man the posts in the Ministry of External Affairs.

(iii) Other eligible Central service Officers (group A) on transfer to Delhi under the Central Staffing Scheme

Wards if (i), (ii) and (iii) coming on transfer should not be denied admission in any class and even during middle of academic session on first come first serve basis provided there is vacancy

(iv) Officers from the defence and other officers coming to Delhi on transfer.”

The Hon’ble Court directed the Sanskriti School to act accordingly. In the aforesaid condition, the Hon’ble stayed the implementation of the impugned judgement.

12. The amicus curie appointed by the court suggested during the hearing that a comprehensive policy may be brought by the Government on Sanskriti Type schools. Thus onus is on government to finalise the policy and place it before the Court. The case is coming up for hearing on 6.4.2016.

Action taken for framing guidelines

13. A meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Personnel) on 4.4.2016 attended by Secretary (School Education sand Literacy), representatives of MHA, Ministry of Law, M/o Environment and Forest, Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangatan, Treasurer, Civil Services Society, Principal, Sanskriti School were present, to discuss the draft policy/guidelines formulated on schools on the pattern of Sanskriti School. Their comments were also sought. The following guidelines are prepared based on suggestion made in the said meeting and comments received thereafter.
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Guidelines for promoting and supporting Sanskriti type schools:

14. The guidelines for Sanskriti School were earlier formulated with the approval of competent authority. Government now proposes to formulate a comprehensive policy/guidelines for establishing Sanskriti Type Schools, which is brought out in following paras:
    (i) The proposal to set up SANSKRITI type School in any State Capital may be initiated by the State Government. The justification should be by way of number of All India/ Central Services transferable officers posted at that station and non- availability of sufficient number of good schools at that station. It is not intended that such schools will necessarily be set up in every State Capital. Central Government support would be provided only after careful examination of the justification with priority given to large metro cities where large numbers of officers are posted.
    (ii) Proposals can also be initiated by a Central Government entity like Ministry/Department, CPSE, Autonomous Bodies etc if the concerned entity is ready to provide land free of cost and also provide partial non-recurring funds for infrastructure. The Central Government entities could be Government controlled educational institutions, including Universities, Research Labs, NITs, IITs, IIMs etc.
    (iii) Land for Sanskriti Type school could also be provided by State/Central Government entities.
    (iv) The composition of students in these schools should be such that 60 % seats are reserved for wards of officers belonging to All India Services/Central Services/other transferable services with overriding priority given to wards of officers posted on transfer. If land is provided free of cost by State Government, 30 % of total seats will be reserved for wards of State Govt. employees. If the land is provided by any Central Government entity, 30 % of total seats will be reserved for wards of employees of that entity/ organisation.
    (v) The admission to the remaining 30 % quota will be under Central Government as under:
    (a) Officers belonging to All India Service and Indian Foreign service posted to concerned stations on transfer from other stations for fix tenure.
    (b) Other eligible Central Service Officers (Group A) Officers posted to concerned stations on transfer from other stations for fix tenure.

Wards of (i) and (ii) coming on transfer should not be denied admission in any class and even during middle of the academic session on first cum first serve basis provided there is vacancy.

The priority related to first cum first serve will be decided on the date the officer joint the station consequent to the transfer orders irrespective of the fact that whether he joins in the mid session or during the admission process of the school.
(c) Officers from the Defence and other officers coming on transfer to the concerned station.

If any vacancy remains against the 30 % quota reserved for Central Government servants, it shall be transferred to wards of officers of State Government/Central Government entity as the case may be.

In the admissions overriding priority will be given to wards of officer who come on transfer from other Sanskriti Schools.
vi) Further, out of the remaining 40 % of seats, 25 % seats would be reserved for children belonging to disadvantaged groups and weaker sections as defined in the Right to Education (RTE) Act and the State RTE Rules and balance 15% may be kept for general public.
(vii) To cater to the needs of transferable employees being posted at the concerned stations in mid-classes, the operations of the school will be designed in such a way that there are additions in classrooms at Class I, VI, IX and XI level.
(viii) The wards of transferable civil servants will be offered admission even if they are posted mid-session. However, if in cases that admission cannot be granted due to non-availability of seats, such wards will be given priority in admission in next academic year’s admission process.
(ix) Government of India will provide financial assistance for infrastructure creation (capital expenditure) for setting up of such a school on the basis of a details project report. The financial assistance may also be provided by participating State or any other Central government entity. Ceiling of such assistance shall be determined on the basis on number of likely students etc. but in no case exceed Rs. 25 crores for A class cities, Rs. 20 crores for B class cities and Rs. 15 crores for C class cities.
x) A financial head for funding setting up Sanskriti Type school will be created for setting up of Sanskriti Type schools for funding them.
(xi) The fee structure of such schools would be such that they are able to meet all the recurring expenditure needs themselves. They may, however, receive donation from Non-Government Organisations to further develop infrastructure of the school. These schools may also charge a differentiated fee from wards of general public.

Salary for Principal/Teachers and staff shall be at par with those applicable to teachers for whom pay scale etc. will be as per prescribed by Central Pay Commission.
(xii) The management of such a school will be entrusted to a society which will be set up separately for each State in the following manner:
a) If the land is provided by the State Government, the Chairman of the Society and also of the Executive Committee will be the serving Chief Secretary or spouse;
b) If the land is provided by the Central Government entity like Ministry/Department, CPSE, Autonomous Bodies, the Chairman of the Society and also of the Executive Committee will be the Secretary/ Head of the concerned organisation or spouse.
c) The following will the structure of the Governing Body/Executive Committee:-
i. Chairman – one.
ii. Secretary – one.
iii. Joint Secretary – min: nil max: one.
iv. Treasurer – one.
v. Executive Members – Minimum eight.
d) This Society will be empowered to take all necessary decisions to run the school ensuring compliance with local State and Central legislations on the subject. The Management Committee will have broad representation of all Services officials posted at that station including inter alia
i. One representation from Central Government/DoPT.
ii. If the land is provided by State Government, then two representatives of the State Government would be nominated otherwise, two members of the Central Government entity will be nominated.
iii. One member of the Parent Teachers Association and one member of the parents belonging to the EWS category will also be included.
(xiii) The Civil Service Society which is managing SANSKRITI School in Delhi will provide initial technical support to these schools in designing of curriculum, hiring of teaching staff as well as in their training. An MOU will be signed between the Sanskriti School, Delhi and the other party, which may also provide for suitable compensation to Sanskriti School, Delhi for providing such professional assistance.
(xiv) These schools may be named as Sanskriti (name of State) or Sanskriti (name of City). It is clarified that they will not be construed as a branch/ affiliate of Sanskriti School, Delhi.
(xv) Keeping in view the all India transfer liability of officers and the fact that many officers are often transferred across different States, the Board of Education to which these Schools would be Central Board of Secondary Education which is available in all parts of the country.
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(xvi) These Schools will comply with all the relevant provision of the Right to Education Act, as applicable in that State and guidelines issued by the Ministry of HRD regarding admission procedure.