Bengaluru: At its worst, the school admission process is a tough route for parents. They not only face stiff competition, but have to jump over several hurdles to secure a place for their children. In a desperate attempt to obtain seats under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) quota in aided and unaided schools, several parents allegedly fudged documents to show their children had special needs or were orphans or street children.

According to a The Hindu report, Department of Public Instruction discovered this during the verification process.

Of the total 1,095 applications received under the special category, 418 were not eligible to claim this benefit. “Many of them did not have the necessary documents. Even single parents had come forward to claim the benefit,” said an official.

These fraudulent applications have been converted to general applications and will still be a part of the online lottery process. Only 533 applications are eligible to be considered as special cases under the disadvantaged category.

Orphans, migrant and street children, and those affected and living with HIV, transgenders, children with special needs, and children of farmers who committed suicide due to drought are considered under the special category. These children will be given first preference in the online lottery process.

The total number of eligible applications for RTE seats was 1.5 times the demand. About 2.33 lakh applicants are eligible for 1.52 lakh seats. As many as 5,482 applications were rejected as there were discrepancies in their documents.

Textbooks and uniforms

Shalini Rajneesh, Principal Secretary, pointed out that the State government will provide State syllabus textbooks to those students admitted under the RTE quota. However, managements of CBSE and ICSE schools will have to provide textbooks and school uniforms for RTE students.

Ms. Rajneesh said a fresh circular would be issued in this regard shortly.

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New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Police announced a series of infrastructure and technology upgrades under the Safe City Project, including the expansion of surveillance systems and construction of new facilities, on the occasion of its 79th Raising Day.

Officials said that under the project, the Command and Control Centre will be further strengthened and several CCTV cameras have already been installed across the national capital. The surveillance system is equipped with advanced features such as hand-gesture recognition, facial detection and overcrowding alerts to enhance real-time monitoring.

"Mobile command vehicles will also be deployed to improve on-ground coordination during emergencies and major events," a senior police officer said.

The Special Cell headquarters will be constructed in Lodhi Colony to bolster operational efficiency. In addition, three new police stations and six police chowkis will be set up.

A seven-floor hostel for women police personnel will be built in Rohini, with accommodation capacity for 132 staff members, officials said.