Bhubaneswar, Dec. 20: Parents and guardians of DAV school students in the capital have sought the intervention of BJD MLA Ashok Panda to sort out the contentious issue of fee hike announced a fortnight ago. Yesterday, regional director of DAV institutions had instructed the four DAVs in Cuttack to stop collecting enhanced fee until further orders from the Supreme Court.

“We have submitted a memorandum to the MLA. We are also expecting the minister of school and mass education, Rabi Narayan Nanda, to take a decision regarding this issue tomorrow,” said B.C. Mohanty, member of the all-Odisha DAV co-ordination committee.

A section of parents also staged protests outside DAV Public School, Chandrasekharpur this evening, demanding withdrawal of the hike decision. They met school principal K.C. Satpathy for a discussion. “The matter has been conveyed to DAV regional director and we hope he will consider holding off collection of hiked fee until the next hearing in the Supreme Court on January 14, like he did in the case of the Cuttack schools,” said a parent. School authorities, however, declined to comment stating that the matter was sub-judice.

Last year, Orissa High Court had struck down a fee hike announced by the DAV schools in 2009-10. The school management had then moved the Supreme Court, which had instructed the constitution of an interim committee to determine the fee structure. The committee’s decision on November 23 to effect a hike ranging between Rs 900 and Rs 1,200 has since fuelled statewide protests by parents.