Right to Education Act

The Act is completely titled “the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act”. It was passed by the Parliament in
August 2009. When the Act came into force in 2010, India became one among 135 countries where education is a fundamental
right of every child.

• The 86th Constitutional Amendment (2002) inserted Article 21A in the Indian Constitution which states:
• “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of 6 to 14 years in such manner as the
State, may by law determine.”
• As per this, the right to education was made a fundamental right and removed from the list of Directive Principles of State
Policy.
• The RTE is the consequential legislation envisaged under the 86th Amendment.
• The article incorporates the word “free” in its title. What it means is that no child (other than those admitted by his/her
parents in a school not supported by the government) is liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may
prevent him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education.
• This Act makes it obligatory on the part of the government to ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary
education by all children falling in the age bracket six to fourteen years.
• Essentially, this Act ensures free elementary education to all children in the economically weaker sections of society.

RTE Provisions
The provisions of the RTE Act are briefly described below. The Act provides for:

• The right of free and compulsory education to children until they complete their elementary education in a school in the
neighbourhood.
• The Act makes it clear that ‘compulsory education’ implies that it is an obligation on the part of the government to ensure
the admission, attendance and completion of elementary education of children between the ages of six and fourteen. The
word ‘free’ indicates that no charge is payable by the child which may prevent him/her from completing such education.
• The Act provides for the admission of a non-admitted child to a class of his/her appropriate age.
• It mentions the duties of the respective governments, the local authorities and parents in ensuring the education of a child.
It also specifies the sharing of the financial burden between the central and the state governments.
• It specifies standards and norms for Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTR), infrastructure and buildings, working days of the school
and for the teachers.
• It also says there should be no urban-rural imbalance in teacher postings. The Act also provides for the prohibition of the
employment of teachers for non-educational work, other than census, elections and disaster relief work.
• The Act provides that the teachers appointed should be appropriately trained and qualified.
• The Act prohibits:
• Mental harassment and physical punishment.
• Screening procedures for the admission of children.
• Capitation fees.
• Private tuition by the teachers.
• Running schools with no recognition.
• The Act envisages that the curriculum should be developed in coherence with the values enshrined in the Indian
Constitution, and that which would take care of the all-round development of the child. The curriculum should build on the
knowledge of the child, on his/her potentiality and talents, help make the child free of trauma, fear and anxiety via a
system that is both child-centric and child-friendly.

Significance of RTE
With the passing of the Right to Education Act, India has moved to a rights-based approach towards implementing education for all.
This Act casts a legal obligation on the state and central governments to execute the fundamental rights of a child (as per Article 21
A of the Constitution).

• The Act lays down specific standards for the student-teacher ratio, which is a very important concept in providing quality
education.
 • It also talks about providing separate toilet facilities for girls and boys, having adequate standards for classroom
conditions, drinking water facilities, etc.
• The stress on avoiding the urban-rural imbalance in teachers’ posting is important as there is a big gap in the quality and
numbers regarding education in the villages compared to the urban areas in the country.
•
• The Act provides for zero tolerance against the harassment and discrimination of children. The prohibition of screening
procedures for admission ensures that there would be no discrimination of children on the basis of caste, religion, gender,
etc.
• The Act also mandates that no kid is detained until class 8. It introduced the Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation
(CCE) system in 2009 to have grade-appropriate learning outcomes in schools.
• The Act also provides for the formation of a School Management Committee (SMC) in every school in order to promote
participatory democracy and governance in all elementary schools. These committees have the authority to monitor the
school’s functioning and prepare developmental plans for it.
• The Act is justiciable and has a Grievance Redressal mechanism that permits people to take action when the provisions of
the Act are not complied with.
• The RTE Act mandates for all private schools to reserve 25 per cent of their seats for children from socially
disadvantaged and economically backward sections. This move is intended to boost social inclusion and pave the way
for a more just and equal country.
•
• This provision is included in Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act. All schools (private, unaided, aided or special
category) must reserve 25% of their seats at the entry-level for students from the Economically Weaker Sections
(EWS) and disadvantaged groups.
• When the rough version of the Act was drafted in 2005, there was a lot of outcry in the country against this large
percentage of seats being reserved for the underprivileged. However, the framers of the draft stood their ground
and were able to justify the 25% reservation in private schools.
• This provision is a far-reaching move and perhaps the most important step in so far as inclusive education is
concerned.
• This provision seeks to achieve social integration.
• The loss incurred by the schools as a result of this would be reimbursed by the central government.
• The Act has increased enrolment in the upper primary level (Class 6-8) between 2009 and 2016 by 19.4%.
• In rural areas, in 2016, only 3.3% of children in the 6 – 14 years bracket were out of school.

Criticism of RTE Act

Even though the RTE Act is a step in the right direction towards the achievement of making education truly free and compulsory in
India, it has met with several criticisms. Some of the criticisms are given below:

• The Act was drafted hastily without much thought or consultation being given to the quality of education imparted.
• Children below 6 years are not covered under the Act.
• Many of the schemes under the Act have been compared to the previous schemes on education such as the Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan, and have been plagued with corruption charges and inefficiency.
• At the time of admissions, many documents such as birth certificate, BPL certificate, etc. are required. This move seems
to have left out orphans from being beneficiaries of the Act.
• There have been implementational hurdles in the 25% reservation of seats for EWS and others in private schools. Some
of the challenges in this regard are discriminatory behaviour towards parents and difficulties experienced by students to fit
in with a different socio-cultural milieu.
• Regarding the ‘no detention’ policy till class 8, an amendment to the Act in 2019, introduced regular annual exams in
classes 5 and 8.
• In case a student fails in the annual exam, he/she is given extra training and made to appear for a re-exam. If this
re-exam is not passed, the student can be detained in the class.
• This amendment was made after many states complained that without regular exams, the learning levels of
children could not be evaluated effectively.
• The states which were against this amendment were six states with higher learning outcomes due to their
effective implementation of the CCE system as mandated in the Act. (The six states were Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Telangana and Maharashtra.)
 • It has been found that many states find it difficult to move to the CCE system of assessment. This is chiefly due to a lack
of teachers’ training and orientation.
• Another criticism levelled against the Act is that instead of increasing the standards and outcomes of the public education
system in India, it passes the buck to private schools with some respect.
Making the right to education a fundamental right took more than 6 decades after independence. Now, the government and all
stakeholders should focus on the quality of education, and gradually move towards having a single educational system and
platform across the country for all sections of society in order to foster equality, inclusion, and unity

SMALLOverview

The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21-A in the Constitution of India to provide free and

compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right in such a manner as the

State may, by law, determine. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which represents the

consequential legislation envisaged under Article 21-A, means that every child has a right to full time elementary education of

satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards.

Article 21-A and the RTE Act came into effect on 1 April 2010. The title of the RTE Act incorporates the words ‘free and

compulsory’. ‘Free education’ means that no child, other than a child who has been admitted by his or her parents to a school which

is not supported by the appropriate Government, shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may prevent

him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education. ‘Compulsory education’ casts an obligation on the appropriate

Government and local authorities to provide and ensure admission, attendance and completion of elementary education by all

children in the 6-14 age group. With this, India has moved forward to a rights based framework that casts a legal obligation on the

Central and State Governments to implement this fundamental child right as enshrined in the Article 21A of the Constitution, in

accordance with the provisions of the RTE Act.

Legal Services and Lok Adalat

16.1 HISTORY OF LEGAL AID SERVICES

The earliest Legal Aid movement appeared in the year 1851 when someenactment was introduced in France
for providing legal assistance to the poor. In Britain, the history of the organised efforts on the part of the
State to providelegal services to the poor and needy dates back to 1944, when Lord Chancellor,Viscount
Simon appointed Rushcliffe Committee to enquire about the facilitiesexisting in England and Wales for
giving legal advice to the poor and to make recommendations as appear to be desirable for ensuring that
persons in needof legal advice are provided the same by the State. Since 1952, the govenmentof India also
started addressing to the question of legal aid for the poor in variousconferences of Law Ministers and Law
Commissions. In 1960, some guidelineswere drawn by the government for legal aid schemes. In different
States legal aid schemes were floated through Legal Aid Boards, Societies and Law Departments. In 1980, a
Committee at the national level was constituted to oversee and supervise legal aid programmes throughout
the country under the chairmanship of Hon. Mr. Justice P.N. Bhagwati, then the Judge of the Supreme Court
of India. This Committee came to be known as CILAS (Committee for Implementing Legal Aid Schemes)
and started monitoring legal aid activities throughout the country.
Article 39-A of the Constitution of India provides that State shall ensure that the operation of the legal
system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall in particular, provide free legal aid, by
suitable legislationor schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justiceare not
denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disability. Articles14 and 22(1) also make it obligatory
for the State to ensure equality before lawand a legal system which promotes justice on a basis of equal
opportunity to all. Legal aid strives to ensure that constitutional pledge is fulfilled in its letter and spirit and
equal justice is made available to the poor, downtrodden and weaker sections of the society.
Article 39-A of Constitution of India emphasises that free legal service is an inalienable element of
‘reasonable, fair and just’ procedure for without it a personsuffering from economic or other disabilities would
be deprived of the opportunity for securing justice. The right to free legal services is, therefore, clearly an
essential ingredient of ‘reasonable, fair and just, procedure for a person accused of an offence and it must be
held implicit in the guarantee of Article- 21 of the Constitution. This is a constitutional right of every
accused person who is unable to engage a lawyer and secure legal services on account of reasons such as
poverty, indignant situation and the State is under a mandate to provide.
a lawyer to an accused person if the circumstances of the case and the needsof justice so requires,
provided, of course, the accused person does not object to the provision of such lawyer.

16.2 LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITIES ACT, 1987

16.2.1. Main Provisions of Law on Legal Aid

In 1987 Legal Services Authorities Act was enacted to give a statutory baseto legal aid programmes
throughout the country on a uniform pattern. The LegalServices Authorities Act, 1987 made drastic changes in
the field of legal services. It is an Act to constitute legal services authorities to provide free and competentlegal
services to the weaker sections of the society to ensure that opportunitiesfor securing justice are not denied to
any citizen by reason of economic or otherdisabilities.
Every person who has to file or defend a case shall be entitled to legal servicesunder this Act if that person
is –
a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe;
a victim of trafficking in human beings or begar;
a woman or a child;
a mentally ill or otherwise disabled person;
a person under circumstances of undeserved want such as being a victimof a mass disaster, ethnic violence,
caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquakeor industrial disaster; or
an industrial worker; or
in receipt of annual income less than rupees nine thousand or such other higher amount as may be prescribed
by the State govenment, if the case is before a court other than the Supreme Court, and less than rupees
twelve thousands or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by the Centralgovenment, if the case is
before the Supreme Court.
(Rules have already been amended to enhance this income ceiling).

Legal Services Authorities after examining the eligibility criteria of an applicantand the existence of a prima
facie case in his/her favour provide him/her counselat State expense, pay the required Court Fee in the matter
and bear all incidentalexpenses in connection with the case. The person to whom legal aid is providedis not
called upon to spend anything on the litigation once it is supported bya Legal Services Authority.

Authorities Under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987

The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 provides that the Central Governmentshall constitute a body to be
called the National Legal Services Authority to exercise the powers and perform the functions conferred on ,
or assigned to, the Central Authority under this Act. A nationwide network has been envisagedunder the Act
for providing legal aid and assistance. National Legal Services Authority is the apex body constituted to lay
down policies and principles for making legal services available under the provisions of the Act and to
frame most effective and economical schemes for legal services. It also disburses fundsand grants to State Legal
Services Authorities and NGOs for implementing legalaid schemes and programmes. The Legal Services
Authorities Act, 1987 provides for the constitution of ‘State Legal Services Authority’. In every Statea State
Legal Services Authority is constituted to give effect to the policies anddirections of the Central Authority
(NALSA) and to give legal services to the people and conduct ‘Lok Adalats’ in the State. State Legal
Services Authority is headed by the Chief Justice of the State High Court who is its Patron-in-Chief.A serving
or retired Judge of the High Court is nominated as its Executive Chairman.
‘District Legal Services Authority’ is constituted in every District to implementLegal Aid Programmes and
Schemes in the District. The District Judge of the District is its ex-officio Chairman.
‘Taluk Legal Services Committees’ are also constituted for each of the Taluk or Mandal or for group of
Taluk or Mandals to coordinate the activities of legal services in the Taluk and to organise Lok Adalats.
Every Taluk Legal ServicesCommittee is headed by a senior Civil Judge operating within the jurisdiction of
the Committee who is its ex-officio Chairman

Authorities under the Services Authorities Act, 1987

↓
National Legal Services Authority
↓
State Legal Services Authority
↓
District Legal Services Authority
↓
Taluk Legal Services Authority
After the constitution of the Central Authority and the establishment of NALSAoffice towards the beginning of
1998, following schemes and measures have been envisaged and implemented by the Central Authority:-

Laying down policies and principles for making legal services available under the provision of this Act;

Framing the most effective and economical schemes for the purpose of making legal services available under
the provisions of this Act;

Utilising the funds at its disposal and make appropriate allocations of fundsto the State Authorities and District
Authorities;

Taking necessary steps by way of social justice litigation with regard to consumer protection, environment
protection or any other matter of specialconcern to the weaker sections, of the society and for this purpose, give
training to social workers in legal skills;

Organising legal aid camps, especially in rural areas, slums or labour colonieswith the dual purpose of educating
the weaker sections of the society asto their rights as well as encouraging the settlement of disputes through
LokAdalats;

Encouraging the settlement of disputes by way of negotiations, arbitration and conciliation;

Undertaking and promote research in the field of legal services with specialreference to the need for such
services among the poor;

Monitoring and evaluate implementation of the legal aid programmes at periodic intervals and provide for
independent evaluation of programmes andschemes implemented in whole or in part by funds provided under this
Act;

Providing grants-in-aid for specific schemes to various voluntary social service institutions and the State and
District Authorities, from out of the amounts placed at its disposal for the implementation of legal services
schemes under the provisions of this Act;

Developing consultation with the Bar Council of India, programmes for clinical legal education and , promote
guidance and supervise the establishmentand working of legal services clinics in universities, law colleges and
otherinstitutions;

Taking appropriate measures for spreading legal literacy and legal awarenessamongst the people and , in
particular, to educate weaker sections of the society about the rights, benefits and privileges guaranteed by social
welfarelegislations and other enactments as well as administrative programmes and measures;

Making special efforts to enlist the support of voluntary social welfare institutions, working at the grass-root
level , particularly among the ScheduleCastes and Schedule Tribes, women and rural and urban labour; and

Co-ordinating and monitoring the functioning of State Authorities, DistrictAuthorities, Supreme Court Legal
Services Committee, High Court Legal Services Committees, Taluk Legal Services Committees and voluntary
social service institutions and other legal services organisations and give general directions for the proper
implementation of the legal services programmes.

Legal Aid Counsel have been provided in most of the courts of the Magistratesin the country to provide
immediate legal assistance to those prisoners who arenot in a position to engage their own counsel.
The legal aid is being given by legal aid advocates to the millions of this countrywho live below poverty line in
tribal, backward and far flung areas and who look to Legal Services Authorities for help and support in
resolving their legalproblems. When involved in litigation they very often feel that they are fightingan unequal
battle in which the party that has better financial resources can securemore able legal assistance. These poor and
weaker sections must not remain under the impression that they are getting comparatively inferior legal assistance.
Legal services authorities must revise the payment schedule for legal aid paneladvocates and also compress the
panels so that panel advocates get more workand better remuneration from legal services authorities and thus get
encouragedto render effective legal assistance to aided persons.
NALSA has also called upon State Legal Services Authorities to set up legal aid cells in jails so that the
prisoners lodged therein are provided prompt and efficient legal aid to which they are entitled by virtue of
Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

16.3. LOK ADALAT

‘Lok Adalat’ is a system of conciliation or negotiation. It is also known as ‘people’s court’. It can be
understood as a court involving the people who are directly or indirectly affected by the dispute or grievance.
‘Lok Adalat’, established by the government settles dispute through conciliation and [Link] First ‘Lok
Adalat’ was held in Chennai in 1986. ‘Lok Adalat’ accepts the cases which could be settled by conciliation and
compromise and pending in the regular courts within their jurisdiction.

Figure 16.1: Lok Adalat

Need of Lok Adalats

As we know that justice delayed is justice denied. This statement becomes trueif we see the backlog of pending
cases before courts of different hierarchy. It resulted into delay justicing in India. Mounting arrears of cases
has brought the judiciary and the judicial process at the verge of collapse. In this given stateof affairs the
mechanism of Lok Adalats is the only option left with the peopleto resort to for availing cheap and speedy
justice. Lok Adalats effectively deal with the magnitude of arrears of cases. ‘Lok Adalat’ has in view the social
goalsof ending bitterness rather than pending disputes restoring peace in the family,community and locality.
Formal Court → wastage of time & money
Person
Lok Adalat → saves time as well as money

So ‘Lok Adalat’ is favourable to poor sections of the society.

Statutory foundation of Lok Adalats

Under Article-39 A of the Constitution of India, the Parliament has enacted theLegal Services Authorities Act,
1987 with the legislative intent to constitute various legal services authorities to provide free and competent
legal services to the weaker sections of the society to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not
denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities
and to organise ‘Lok Adalats’ to ensure the operation of the legal system whichpromotes justice on the basis of
equal opportunity. The Act was passed to advance the Constitutional mission of social justice by creating legal
services authorities and to organise ‘Lok Adalats’ to provide cheap and quick justice tothe deprived and the
destitute. The Act has conferred statutory status to ‘Lok Adalats’ for the first time through the parliamentary
legislation, although the institution had the glorious socio-cultural heritage in India.

Organisation of Lok Adalats

Every State Authority or District Authority or Supreme Court Legal Services Committee or every High Court
Legal Services Committee or Taluk Legal Services Committee may organize Lok Adalats. Lok Adalats are to
consist of three members – a sitting or retired judicial officer, a member of the legal profession (advocate, law
officer, and law teacher) and a social worker, preferably women. The Act and regulations require the secretary
of the legal services authority or committee to associate students, social activists andvoluntary organisations in
the community for facilitating the successful conductof ‘Lok Adalats’.

Jurisdiction and Award of Lok Adalats

Lok Adalats are intended to arrive at compromises and settlements. In doing so, it has the power of a civil court
in summoning and examining witnesses, discovery of documents, recording of evidence on affidavits and
requisitioningof public records. Further, it is open to Lok Adalats to specify its own procedureand it is
considered judicial proceedings.
Whenever a settlement is reached, an ‘Award’ is made which is deemed to bea ‘Decree’ of a civil court. It is
to be written down in simple and clear terms. No appeal is permissible against such awards which are deemed
final. If no compromise is reached, the same goes back the court.
Many people saw the Lok Adalats as a measure to divert litigation from formalcourts and tribunals and a
convenient strategy to reduce the mounting arrears of cases in the formal court system. The insurance
companies that found the compensation amounts settled through Lok Adalats in motor accident cases
economically and administratively convenient started opting for the Lok Adalatin preference to the Tribunals.