Calcutta, April 15: The CPM leadership today summoned school education minister Kanti Biswas and asked him to set up a committee to look into the affairs of private English medium schools.

The CPM state secretariat, which met at Alimuddin Street this morning, also sought a detailed report from the minister about the prevailing condition in English-medium schools affiliated to the Delhi-based ICSE and CBSE.

In the Assembly, Biswas had last month unveiled plans to set up an expert committee to monitor ?exorbitant? fee hikes and discrepancies in payment of teachers? salaries in such schools.

Biswas had then admitted that there were no measures in place to check the frequent and steep fee hikes ? over Rs 300 at a time in some ? in schools affiliated to the Delhi boards once the state government issued the no-objection certificate for their setting up.

The minister had pointed out that the government had received complaints of steep fee hikes and of teachers not being paid according to norms. ?But we cannot repeal the NOCs to the 703-odd schools in and outside Calcutta and jeopardise the fate of students,? he told the House.

At today?s meeting, state CPM secretary Anil Biswas said the government had no control over such schools. ?We even don?t know what is happening in them.?

Biswas later said he had asked the minister to set up the panel at the earliest and submit reports to both the party brass and the government.