A month after mid-day’s expose on how Nityanand Municipal school in Andheri (East), which is supposed to impart free education to underprivileged children, has turned into a commercial centre which demands cash from parents at will, the authorities have finally swung into action. The school (which housed a privately-run entity called Varun International)  forced parents to shell out Rs 5,000 each year as fees, for which no receipts were issued.

Parents meet with officials from the BMC and education department at Nityanand School

In a meeting organised on Thursday, over 50 parents aired their grievances to a panel of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials from the education department, which included Mansi Apte, superintendent and acting deputy education officer and Mamta Rao, administrative officer (BMC Schools). mid-day has a copy of the minutes of the meeting, which observed that out of the 12 teachers appointed by Varun International, only two were qualified to teach.