The Right to education (RTE) violations will not be given a pass. Schools in Chattisgarh learnt it the hard way. Two private schools which charged capitation fees from students and violated the Right to Education (RTE) Act have been imposed a fine of over Rs 114 crore by the Durg district administration.

According to Section 13 (1) and (2) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, if a school is charging capitation fees, a penalty of up to 10 times the amount can be imposed on the institution.

An inquiry team set up by the Durg administration had found that Krishna Public School, Bhilai, had charged Rs 8.18 crore as capitation fees from students in 2010-11, while MGM Public School had charged Rs 3.24 crore.

The district education officer sent a notice to both the schools on Tuesday, asking them to deposit the fine and respond within five days.

While Krishna Public School has been asked to pay over Rs 80 crore, MGM School will have to deposit over Rs 30 crore — 10 times the amount they charged as capitation fee.

In December 2010, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had found that over Rs 10 crore from students were collected by government-run-schools in Haryana for a 'development fund'. It later had to refund everything to the last coin after the NCPCR, the body responsible for monitoring RTE implementation intervened.

The soliciting and collection of the so-called development fund flouted the RTE rule of schools being barred from charging any capitation fee, donation or contribution or payment other than fee notified by the school.