BENGALURU: A private bill to be placed in the ongoing legislature session in Belagavi seeks to make it mandatory for government employees and elected representatives to send their wards to government schools.Raghu Achar is expected to move the bill in the Legislative Council on Tuesday. The bill proposes to make it compulsory for children of IAS, IPS, Chief Minister, cabinet rank ministers, all elected representatives and government employees to be enrolled into government schools and colleges.
But Raghu himself sends his children to a private school. Admitting it, he told Express, “Yes, I send my children to a private school. But if the government makes it mandatory, I will definitely send them to government schools. If my bill is passed and it becomes a law, then I will be the first elected representative to send his children to government schools.”
Raghu said, “After the Allahabad High Court directed all public servants to send their children to government schools, there has been a constant debate on social media and some sections of the society demanding for its implementation in our state too. Hence, I have decided to place a private bill.” “My bill doesn’t just highlight sending kids to government schools, but it also stresses on upgrading government schools on par with private schools. If this is done, no one can find fault with government schools anymore. Nobody will be able to use it as an excuse for not sending their children to government schools,” explained Raghu.State Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait said, “We are open to it. If the Bill is debated and passed in both the Houses, then we will consider making it a law.”
What next?
If a private bill is passed in both the Houses, then the government has to make it its own bill and place it again before the Houses and it will have to be passed again. Later, it will become an Act and will be sent for the Governor’s nod. But in most cases private bills haven’t been passed. One recent example is a private bill placed by Health Minister Ramesh Kumar. As an MLA in 2016, he introduced a bill on putting an end to lavish weddings. Though it was discussed, it failed to be passed.