Govt will shift kids from 99-yr-old school, Delhi HC told

New Delhi: The AAP government has told the Delhi High Court that since the Centre was refusing to hand over land to shift a 99-year-old school, whose building is in a dilapidated state, the students studying there would be relocated to other schools from the next academic year.

At a meeting held on November 28 last pursuant to orders of the high court to work out a solution regarding the future of the school, the ministry of defence (MoD) has asked the Directorate of Education (DoE) to shift the school to another site, the Delhi government has told the court.

In an affidavit placed before a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice VK Rao, the Directorate of Education has said that in view of the stand taken by the MoD, it has no other option but to relocate the students to other schools in the next academic year. It has urged the court to direct the ministry to provide an alternative piece of land to construct a school building or to hand over the site where it is located now.

According to the minutes, the MoD has said that the 99-year-old Rajputana Rifles Heroes Memorial Senior Secondary School was presently located on defence land which was not in accordance with the Cantonment Land Administration Rules.

The delegation representing the army and the ministry said no land was available to be handed over to the Directorate of Education and suggested that students studying there be relocated to other schools being run by the state government in the cantonment area. The MoD has also said that the building has “outlived its fair life”.