Jamshedpur: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has sought a report from East Singhbhum DC Amit Kumar on the alleged denial of entry-level admission of children from poor homes to some private schools in the steel city, which constitutes a violation of RTE Act.

The child rights panel specifies five Jamshedpur schools - DBMS English High School in Kadma, RVS Academy High School in Mango, RMS High School in Sonari, Kasidih High School in Sakchi and Kerala Public School in Mango.

J. Patil, the registrar of NCPCR, wrote to the DC on July 9 in the wake of a complaint by parents' outfit Jamshedpur Abhibhavak Sangh. The parents' body complained to the statutory body under Union ministry of women and child development after the former's repeated pleas to the district administration on this matter failed to elicit response.

Patil's letter seeks a "response within 10 days of the date of issue of this letter", on "the denial of admission of children in LKG by various schools of East Singhbhum district". If the letter gets no response, Patil adds, the "commissioner (NCPCR) will be constrained to initiate summons proceedings under Section 14 of the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act 2005". It means that the DC can be summonsed examined under oath.

Parents' outfit president Umesh Kumar who said he raised the matter of admission denied to poor children with East Singhbhum district superintendent of education Bankey Bihari Singh, also nodal officer of RTE cell for the district, and DC "several times this year", told this paper, "I feel the NCPCR was the last hope to ensure these poor children get admission.

He said the five private schools were denying admission to children based on flimsy grounds. "The schools cite age certificate anomalies to deny admission whereas RTE Jharkhand Act Regulation 2011 clearly mentions that the birth certificate affidavit submitted parents should be seen as the final document for admission," he said.

The JAS president claimed that so far two children had been denied admission in DBMS English High School, one in RMS High School, 14 in Kerala Public School (Mango), one in RVS Academy School (Mango) and four in Kasidih High School.

East Singhbhum assistant project officer in DSE office Akhilesh Kumar said the DSE (Bankey Bihari Singh) had sent applications of poor students with their documents to schools concerned. "If school don't accept the accept those, RTE Act is violated. We can't take action directly against schools. But we will recommend the state government for suitable action," he added.

Asked, B. Chandrasekhar, joint chairperson DBMS Trust, which oversees DBMS schools across the city, said they were on the right side of the law and had replied to the district administration on the matter. "We are aware of RTE provisions and are abiding by the rules," Chandrasekhar said on Thursday.