GUWAHATI: Private schools have opposed the show-cause notice sent to them by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC). The GMC had issued show-cause notices over non-payment of trade license fees to private schools across the city.
The private schools have protested against the move by GMC to club schools as "business", thereby entering it into trade category. They have filed a case against GMC in the Gauhati High Court (HC).
As per the All Assam Private Schools Association (AAPSA), the GMC had amended the annexure 1 schedule 4 GMC act of 1971 that constituted "who should apply for trade licenses". The body claimed GMC added schools with more than 300 students under that section.
G Plus spoke to Pankaj Das, President of AAPSA, who stated that GMC's move is contradictory to the Supreme Court's Right to Education Act that considered schools as not businesses.
"How can schools be considered trade? This is against the constitution. The GMC can't compel them to seek trade license," Das told G Plus.
Meanwhile, there has been no response from the GMC regarding the issue. The legal branch of GMC didn't respond to G Plus regarding their stand on the issue.