For almost two months, a priest, a Protestant bishop and some directors have been in prison accused of having exorbitantly increased school fees. But the percentage increase is calculated on the year of Covid, when they were reduced by order of local authorities. Bishop Arasu told “We have done nothing wrong, we will go to the Supreme Court to ask for justice.”
Jabalpur () – The diocese of Jabalpur has appealed to the High Court of the State of Madhya Pradesh to request the annulment of a decision by the official in charge of education who ordered some Christian schools to refund school fees. The problem remains the same as that which led to the arrest on 27 May of a priest from the diocese, Fr Abraham Thazhathedathu, and the directors of five schools run by the local Catholic Church, as well as the Protestant Bishop Ajay Umesh Kumar James, of the Church of North India, and other directors.
The Jabalpur district authorities have ordered ten private schools to reimburse around 650 million rupees in “extra school fees” (more than 7 million euros, ed.) which, according to the prosecution, were charged over several years to more than 81,000 pupils. The decision is based on a rule according to which, in order to increase the amount of fees by more than 10%, all schools must obtain permission from the district administration or from a local government commission, if the increase exceeds 15%. The schools in question are accused of having failed to comply with this rule and 14 people have been in prison for almost two months. Indeed, the Madhya Pradesh High Court refused on 12 July to grant bail to Father Abraham and the others involved.
The Jabalpur diocese, however, strongly denies these allegations, saying that it has followed all the rules and that its schools have not charged any additional amount to the students. “We have submitted all our certified accounts to the government, as requested,” it told Bishop Valan Arasu has been the Bishop of Jabalpur since last January, succeeding Bishop Gerald Almeida, who was also in the crosshairs of Madhya Pradesh authorities for other unfounded accusations against Catholic schools.
“The problem – continues the prelate – arises from the fact that during the Covid-19 period the Supreme Court had ordered institutions to charge only school fees (which are only a part of the total, ed.), an indication that we complied with. However, now that year is taken as a reference point for making the calculation, and they say that there was an increase of more than 10%. But that calculation is incorrect: we are simply charging the same fees as before Covid. I have a degree in Economics and one of the first things they teach us is that forecasts are made considering normal years, not calamity years. Here, instead, they want to take the year of the Coronavirus as a basis.
“We are also accused of not having submitted a report to the authorities every year,” said Archbishop Arasu. “But the competent body is a commission that has not been re-appointed since 2020, and it was only established after the complaints against us were filed. To whom should we have sent these reports?”
“Finally, they accused the schools of having received undue commissions from resellers for the purchase of textbooks,” the prelate added. “This is absolutely false. We have posted the list of books that the pupils needed on notice boards and parents can buy them in any bookshop. If there is abuse in the distribution of school books, the responsibility cannot be attributed to the directors of our schools. It is the responsibility of the authorities who do not control it.”
And while the accused remain in prison, the authorities themselves are encouraging families to ask for the reimbursement of fees. “This is creating serious problems for the schools, even though we have done nothing wrong,” explains the Bishop of Jabalpur. “In our 36 schools we take care of the situation of those who cannot pay, especially in the poorest areas. But if they encourage those who can afford it not to do so, our entire education system suffers the consequences. That is why we have appealed to the State government and we are ready to continue our battle even to the Supreme Court.”
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