KD NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, Feb 28: The Supreme Court on Friday said that Rohingya children can approach government schools for admission and in case of denial, they can move the high court.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh disposed of a plea seeking direction to the authorities of Delhi government to grant admission to Rohingya children having UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) cards in public schools.
“We want the children to first approach the government schools. If they are denied admission, they can move the high court,” the bench told senior advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing for the NGO ‘Rohingya Human Rights Initiative’.
The bench said it passed a similar order in another PIL seeking the same relief.
Gonsalves said the court may record its direction in the order which will pave the way for 500 students to get admissions in government schools.
“I have been fighting for this cause since 2018 and with one direct order, the court will be granting admission to 500 students,” he submitted.
The bench said it is passing the same order, which it passed on a PIL raising a similar cause of Rohingya children.
“We want the children to make the first move,” the bench said. On February 12, the top court said that no child will be discriminated against in getting education.
The plea sought a direction to the Centre and the Delhi government to grant Rohingya refugees in the city access to public schools and hospitals.
The top court earlier sought to know about the area in which these refugees were residing along with their particulars.
On January 31, the top court asked the NGO to apprise the court where the Rohingya refugees settled in the city, and the facilities accessible to them.
It also asked Gonsalves to file an affidavit indicating their places of settlement in Delhi.
Gonsalves had said the NGO sought access to public schools and hospitals for Rohingya refugees, as they were denied the same due to lack of Aadhaar cards.
“They are refugees having UNHCR cards, and therefore they can’t have Aadhaar cards. But for want of Aadhaar they are not being granted access to public schools and hospitals,” he had submitted.
Gonsalves had said that Rohingya refugees resided in Shaheen Bagh, Kalindi Kunj and Khajuri Khas areas of Delhi.
“In Shaheen Bagh and Kalindi Kunj, they are residing in slums, while in Khajuri Khas, they are residing in rented accommodations,” he had submitted.
The top court had said it asked the questions to understand if they lived in camps, as the nature of relief would be different than the one mentioned in the PIL.
The PIL sought a direction to the authorities to grant admission to all Rohingya children free of cost, irrespective of Aadhaar cards and allow them to participate in all examinations, including Classes 10 and 12 and graduation, without government’s insistence on ID proof.
The PIL also sought extension of all government benefits such as free health services in government hospitals, subsidised food grains as available under the Antyodya Anna Yojana, and benefits under the Food Security Act to the Rohingya families as available to other citizens, irrespective of their citizenship. (Agencies)
