BHUBANESWAR: Amid allegations of irregularities in online admissions to private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the state government on Wednesday formed a committee to oversee the admission process through RTE Paradarshi portal.
The four-member committee will be headed by additional secretary to SME department Sangram Keshari Mohapatra.
Under section 12 (1)(c) of RTE Act, private schools must reserve 25 per cent (pc) of their seats for children belonging to the economically weaker sections (EWS) from the neighbourhood. Out of these, 10 pc is reserved for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe students, an equal share for children from BPL families and five pc for children without a home.
While the first phase centralised lottery for allocating seats to EWS children is over, the admissions are underway and will continue till June 10. The admissions are held online through RTE Paradarshi portal.
Parents of the children had earlier this week alleged that around 8,101 applications for RTE admissions on Paradarshi portal were rejected on the ground of invalid documents by the authorities concerned. They further alleged that private schools are being allowed more time for registration in the portal but eligible students are being given only three days to apply for admission. The parents had sought re-examination of the rejected applications.
Department officials said the committee will look into all the allegations and ensure the phase-wise RTE admissions are conducted in a smooth manner. Meanwhile, private schools registered under the portal have been directed not to deny admission to EWS students who have been allocated seats nor charge any fee from their parents.
There are 3,993 private schools registered with RTE Paradarshi and 50,225 seats available in them for RTE admissions. For the 2025-26 session, 21,843 students have been selected for admission in the first phase.