-By Shivam Pathak
“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like regarding! – When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library”.
These are the words of an eminent novelist, Jane Austen from her novel Pride and Prejudice, which is one of the best known works of her life so far in
literature. On 16th of December Jane Austen was born in Steventon,Hampshire in the house of George Austen and Cassandra Austen. Jane had in total seven siblings with whom she was on good terms.

Due to some problems Jane was educated at home. Austen had unfettered access to her father’s library along with that of a family friend’s (Warren Hastings) library. She loved reading novels, but most oftenly she read her own compositions aloud to her family in the evenings. The environment of Austen’s home contributed a lot in order to shape her life as a writer. Gradually when Jane changed from a child into an adult, she became mostly home-centered. She wrote her novels only in the intervals permitted from the important domestic duties of a devoted daughter, sister, and aunt.

Austen achieved success as a published writer after the publications of her novels like-Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma. A significant change in her career occurred in the year 1833, when her novels were republished in Richard Bentley’s Standard Novels series. Jane’s novels were known for critiques and comments upon the British social classes. Austen’s plots were often associated to the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favorable social and economic status in the society.

On 18th July, 1817 Jane Austen breathed her last. Her mysterious death is still a topic of discussion. Some scholars believe that she died due to cancer or tuberculosis. In 1869 Austen’s nephew, James Edward Austen Leigh, published “A Memoir of Jane Austen” in order to give an introduction of Jane Austen’s compelling account of life. Following this he published a second edition in 1871, which included Jane’s unpublished writings.

Therefore, Jane Austen’s writings gave English literature new heights. Austen’s life and novels are both inspirational for every writer as well as
every reader throughout the world.

-By Shivam Pathak
“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like regarding! – When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library”. These are the words of an eminent novelist, Jane Austen from her novel Pride and Prejudice, which is one of the best known works of her so far in literature. On 16th of December Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire in the house of George Austen and Cassandra Austen. Jane had in total seven siblings with whom she was on good terms. Due to some problems Jane was educated at home. Austen had unfettered access to her father’s library along with that of a family friend’s (Warren Hastings) library. She loved reading novels, but most oftenly she read her own compositions aloud to her family in the evenings. The environment of Austen’s home contributed a lot in order to shape her life as a writer. Gradually when Jane changed from a child into an adult, she became mostly home-centered. She wrote her novels only in the intervals
permitted from the important domestic duties of a devoted daughter, sister, and aunt. Austen achieved success as a published writer after the publications of her novels like-Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma. A significant change in her career occurred in the year 1833, when her novels were republished in Richard Bentley’s Standard Novels series. Jane’s novels were known for critiques and
comments upon the British social class. Austen’s plots were often associated to the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favorable social and economic status in the society. On 18th July, 1817 Jane Austen breathed her last. Her mysterious death is still a topic of
discussions. Some scholars believe that she died due to cancer or tuberculosis. In 1869 Austen’s nephew, James Edward Austen Leigh, published “A Memoir of Jane Austen” in order to give an introduction of

A law firm is generally a partnership where two or more lawyers agree to work together and share profit, loss, and liability accordingly. It is important to understand the type or kind of law firm because it ascertains the amount of risk in a law firm and the revenue it can generate to partners and keep running the business. There are several law firms functioning in the country but not all are of the same calibre. Some functions exceptionally well while there are some who do not perform as well. Law firms can be categorized as top-notch, mid-category while there are others that are not up to the mark. But before we go on to categorize the law firms of India, let us understand the functions of a law firm in India. A law firm typically is a business entity that is formed by lawyers. The main function of the lawyers is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities. At the same time, the lawyers of the law firm represent clients in various criminal cases and business transactions. A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other matters in which legal advice and other assistance are sought.

TYPES OF LAW FIRMS:-

ON THE BASIS OF ARRANGEMENT 

This is based on the agreement between the partners for the kind of law firm they need to establish. The arrangement determines the overall sharing of all the profits, losses and liabilities:

·Sole Proprietorship 

In this, a single lawyer is wholly and solely responsible for profit, loss, and liability of the firm.

·General Partnership 

Where two or more lawyers of the firm work together sharing profit, loss, and liability altogether. 

·Professional Corporation

In this type of firm, stocks are provided to the lawyers. 

·Limited Liability Company 

In this, the lawyers-owners are members of the firm but are not directly liable to the third party creditors.

·Limited Liability Partnership

In this lawyers-owners are partners but no one is liable for any act of negligence of any other partner.

ON THE BASIS OF THE STRENGTH/SIZE OF LAW FIRM 

The size of a law firm determines the revenue a law firm will be able to generate. It is the principle of efficiency, more is the workforce, more is the amount of output produced in a given duration of time. The same can be inferred from the size of the law firm, the more the number of associates a law firm comprises, the more billable hours it charges and increases the output provided and therefore the strength of the firm increases the total revenue of the firm.

Boutique Law Firm 

These firms are limited to small cities and towns and are limited to conventional practice. Lawyers are specialized and practicing in only one kind of law. 

Virtual Law Firms 

Use of modern communication technologies to conduct business with no physical presence. This is yet to be developed in India.

Big Law Firms 

The law firms hire a large number of associates and charge more. These full-service law firms.

Full-Service firms 

These firms consist of lawyers specialized in different areas of law. 

Worldwide Firms 

The global presence of a law firm to represent a client at an international level.It should be kept in mind that the strength and arrangement of a law firm is only an initial plan of how a firm will function. A firm will always generate revenue with the quality of service it provides and the value it adds to a client’s interests. Therefore, it is better to diversify the portfolio of practice areas and specialize in every aspect to reach on top of the competition. 

RESTRICTIONS ON OWNERSHIP INTERESTS

In many countries, including the United States, there is a rule that only lawyers may have an ownership interest in, or be managers of, a law firm. Thus, law firms cannot quickly raise capital through initial public offerings on the stock market, like most corporations. They must either raise capital through additional capital contributions from existing or additional equity partners, or must take on debt, usually in the form of a line of credit secured by their accounts receivable.

In the United States this complete bar to non-lawyer ownership has been codified by the American Bar Association as paragraph (d) of Rule 5.4 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and has been adopted in one form or another in all U.S. jurisdictions, except the District of Columbia. However, D.C.’s rule is narrowly tailored to allow equity ownership only by those non-lawyer partners who actively assist the firm’s lawyers in providing legal services, and does not allow for the sale of ownership shares to mere passive non-lawyer investors. The U.K. had a similar rule barring non-lawyer ownership, but under reforms implemented by the Legal Services Act of 2007law firms have been able to take on a limited number of non-lawyer partners and lawyers have been allowed to enter into a wide variety of business relationships with non-lawyers and non-lawyer owned businesses. This has allowed, for example, grocery stores, banks and community organizations to hire lawyers to provide in-store and online basic legal services to customers.

MULTINATIONAL LAW FIRMS

Law firms operating in multiple countries often have complex structures involving multiple partnerships, particularly in jurisdictions such as Hong Kong and Japan which restrict partnerships between local and foreign lawyers. One structure largely unique to large multinational law firms is the Swiss Verein, pioneered by Baker & McKenzie in 2004 or as GRATA International, in which multiple national or regional partnerships form an association in which they share branding, administrative functions and various operating costs, but maintain separate revenue pools and often separate partner compensation structures. Other multinational law firms operate as single worldwide partnerships, such as British or American limited liability partnerships, in which partners also participate in local operating entities in various countries as required by local regulations.

FINANCIAL INDICATORS

Three financial statistics are typically used to measure and rank law firms’ performance:

• Profits per partner (PPP): Net operating income divided by number of equity partners. High PPP is often correlated with prestige of a firm and its attractiveness to potential equity partners. However, the indicator is prone to manipulation by re-classifying less profitable partners as non-equity partners.
• Revenue per lawyer (RPL): Gross revenue divided by number of lawyers. This statistic shows the revenue-generating ability of the firm’s lawyers in general, but does not factor in the firm’s expenses such as associate compensation and office overhead.
• Average compensation of partners (ACP): Total amount paid to equity and non equity partners (i.e., net operating income plus non equity partner compensation) divided by the total number of equity and non equity partners. This results in a more inclusive statistic than PPP, but remains prone to manipulation by changing expense policies and re-classifying less profitable partners as associates.

WORKING OF LAW FIRMS 

A conventional law firm diversifies the area of practice with time to increase its revenue, provide services in various fields of law and provide legal solutions. But recently, this practice has been changed. A law firm now in order to make credibility and generate leads which last long and create more impact, have started to engage in the areas of researching, legal products, and legal training too. These are explained below:

Legal Solutions 

What can be a better USP of a law firm which can resolve the problems of a client efficiently, effectively and as per the interests of its client? This involves client counselling, dispute resolution, legal arrangements, contracting drafting, compliance due diligence, etc. 

Researching 

Research involves policy-making, analyzing legislation, and in-depth study of law to contribute to the academia of legal. Research enables a law firm to create a lasting impact as their research can be referred to as a citation and thereby generating leads and prospective clients.

Legal Products

With the rapid change in technology, law firms are also indulging in research to improve and modernize the legal fraternity so that it can dispense justice efficiently and effectively. In 2017, CAM setup the CAM Innovation Lab to embrace the opportunities technology and use it to provide the best in class services to the clients.

Legal Training 

The major setback effectiveness and efficiency in the legal industry is the gap between the theoretical knowledge given in the institution and the lack of practical knowledge on the ground. To cover this up, a lot of law firms and lawyers engage in legal training by conducting lectures, seminars, workshops or internships. To improve the practical skill of lawyers and aspiring lawyers, the law firm improves its potential efficiency by improving the quality of the workforce and thereby increasing the revenue of the firm.

Apart from this, there are also new areas of law that a law firm should not ignore and indulge and specialize in them because there lie the potential business and revenue which a law firm will lose if it does not regard these areas of law.

NEW AREAS OF LAW WHICH ARE DEVELOPING AND PROFITABLE

Law is a dynamic subject if one needs to remain in the competition he needs to update and familiarize himself with various growing fields of law. With the advent of globalization and rapid development in technologies, the conventional fields are not the only place to increase revenue. In the competitive laissez-faire market, there are various organizations coming to a consensus to work together, or seeking efficient means to resolve their disputes, worried whether their online data is secure and what can be controlled, protection of the company’s brand and various other things. 

If a lawyer can resolve such difficulties, he will be earning a considerable more money than others in the market. A law firm earns a significant clientele by specializing in such fields and establishing its credentials. Some of the areas of law which are developing and profitable are mentioned below:

Mergers & Acquisitions

Every business aims to increase profits, increase clientele, generate more leads and reach the top of the competition. Therefore, every business looks for the opportunity to work with others, acquire other businesses and expand itself more in the market. 

Look at the deal feed of Legally India, daily millions of dollars of deals are made to expand the avenues of business. A law firm has to also deal with the Competition Commission and Security Exchange Board of India. A transaction of such type requires a lot of speculation, must adhere to compliance rules and it is not a simple and easy task. A lot of revenue can be earned if a law firm commands expertise and credibility in this field.

Intellectual Property Rights 

R&D is an important part of the development of new technologies. Billions of dollars are invested to develop new technology. The vast amount of time is invested by authors to produce novel intellectual creations. When these creations are introduced to the public it encourages others to further develop the innovation but at the same time, it is possible that their ideas might get stolen. Therefore, to protect their novel innovations and works, there exists trademark, patents, and copyright under the field of intellectual property rights which provides protection to business marks, novel innovations, and artistic works. 

The different areas in intellectual property include trademarks, patents, copyrights, and related rights, Industrial Designs, Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, Information Technology and Cybercrimes, and Data Protection.

Arbitration 

It is said that it is good if a person does not get to visit three places in his life: Police Station, Hospital and Court. In India, the condition of the judiciary, in terms of faster dispute redressal is not good, the Supreme Court of India alone has 59,272 cases pending before it. It takes years through the court to resolve a dispute. There are a lot of business companies that need binding speedy dispute resolutions and do not want to waste their capital on lawyers dealing with a single dispute for years. In this scenario, arbitration provides an alternate dispute resolution to contending parties to sit together and come to a conclusion. In this way the outcome reached would be favorable to both the parties and therefore will be obliged by both of them. Earlier, people used to hesitate to go for arbitration and preferred to litigate but with the changing scenarios, a law firm that specializes in dispute resolution will have an ace against the other competitors.Technology Law 

This field is emerging rapidly with the pace of development in technology. There are various legal issues in this area from disputes in online trades and transactions to a simple click on the ‘I Agree’ button on terms and conditions of a website. To specialize in this area, a person should learn about the technical aspects of a business, its vulnerabilities, and various legal aspects involving the same. 

A law firm, which can provide specialized services like Software Licencing, Dispute Resolution in tech, agreements for cloud service, IT services, etc will definitely give more revenue as this field generates a value to support a global population of over 7 billion people and growing.

Media & Entertainment Law

As per a report by IBEF, this sector is expected to grow up to $37.55 billion by 2021 in India. A media company has to comply with broadcasting rules, advertising procedures, enter into a contract with various persons and logistics, resolve disputes, comply with cyber laws and many other areas. 

A law firm providing services in such a field can chunk out some revenue from this $37.77 billion.

NEW FIRMS WHICH ARE SUCCESSFUL

There are various law firms that specialize in these developing fields of law and are earning revenue by showcasing their skills and credibility to prospective clients. 

·Algo Legal

The firm has been specialized to serve the needs of investors and startups. The firm focuses on delivering the best in class service with the aid of technology for improved efficiency and effectiveness.

·Krida Legal  

Sports Law is also one of the emerging areas of law and this firm provides services of law with specialization in sports law. 

·Economics Law Practice 

This firm has been recognized as one of the leading Litigation, Arbitration, and Dispute Resolution firms in the country. 

ADVANTAGES OF WORKING IN LAW FIRMS

·Early growth

If a lawyer starts his solo practice or sets up his own law firm, it takes a lot of time, money and investment to grow. On the other hand, if a lawyer commands appropriate skill sets he can work at a law firm and earn a decent amount of money during the starting phase of his career. 

·Vast exposure in terms of clientele

A lawyer practicing solo will at least take 2.3 years to establish his name and credibility in the market. While at a law firm, already diverse clientele exists and there is no dearth of work. So, a lawyer does not need to worry about a lack of work while working at a law firm.

·Working with experts 

A solo practitioner is the boss of his own, he has to manage all the things which include improving and updating himself with the different areas of law and affairs surrounding it. While at a law firm, a lawyer gets to interact with various experts of the legal fraternity and even work with them. This opportunity provides enormous value to a lawyer and helps him to build his network even further.

·Steady Job 

In a solo practice, every day is a new day whereby a lawyer searches for work to earn money. While on the other hand, there is no dearth of work at a law firm. The lawyer needs to keep working and the money keeps coming every month. 

·Interest driven choice 

Working in a law firm is thrilling and adventures. It is the interest and passion of an individual law to choose to work in a law firm. When the choice is interest-driven, a person cannot be unsatisfied with his work and he is expected to grow immensely by the tremendous opportunities provided by firms to increase one’s potential.

CONCLUSION

Therefore, in this way a law firm makes money and by specializing in these developing areas of law, a law firm can grow further. It is important to diversify the practice areas and increase portfolios to earn more revenue. But, at the same time, the quality of service should not be compromised at any cost.

I don not know why he looks pretty similar to someone whom with I had deep relation and shares family values. every single glance and sight produce sensation like the plant of Shameplant. It is little bit sarcastic to say that he belongs to reincarnation but seems me true. every meeting every sight everything what he posses seems me like he belongs to me very deeply and profoundly. even his silence had a voice which would like to drag inner thoughts clearly depicted on his face and it was like ‘He want to tell me something’ His eyes always says me he had something to tell me ‘it was like He would like to complete the story left uncompleted in previous birth’ suddenly he came from nowhere without any alarm or even without any slightest indication and foster the falter story remained uncompleted in the previous birth and took reincarnation to unabridged the scrappy parts into a complete life.

it was all started from a cricket ground I was very young a decent child who nearly and newly just learn to hold the bat, I saw him wearing googles very thin and skinny with a bright charm on his face with little nervousness fielding at the end point of the street that first sight electrified me and I got stunned in a short moment it was like I had seen him somewhere before that whole day I Passed thinking about where and when I witnessed him even I Spent my whole Night in Exploring who is that guy and I was pretty sure about one thing I had seen him before, but Interestingly I was a child too did not posses the rational mind but He attracts me something like an object attracted with the gravitational pull. I had developed a sort of excitement and interest within him. time passes with the pace even without any realization time got fly but gravitational pull was still there it was month of may my phone receive a message and i was shocked and surprised I got message from that ‘special guy’ whom within I have interest not from last twelve years but from previous birth He asked for Procedures to indulge within the institution and this ignites a lamp of zeal within me to indulge to enroll him within my institution. there is no bigger opportunity achievement moment and emotions than it that my reincarnated brother coming to complete his studies with me. we both were belongs to different families pursue primary and basic education with different mediums we were differentiated in everything but as i pronounced above there was an attraction that was pulling us to meet again in the unknown terrain to complete the left story. He was a tremendous guy, over the period from where i left him in the playground he developed him so significantly posses good academic records tops the school and apart from studies he was very serene simple cool and calm respects every emotion every aspects of the life pertinent to soil down to earth and overall an amazing personality. I had remembered When I encounter with him first time in the zoo i was full of enthusiasm and emotions and excitement to meet him everything was happening like Two things are compiling with each other and we were on the verge to complete the story left behind but you know It is like blushing to say everything in first meeting for someone you had developed emotions from previous twelve months and in a sudden it is very hard to express everything. It was very difficult for me to express my concerns and emotions and it was very difficult to tell him the all things that i was feeling from last twelve years where i left him in the playground. But Every meeting every convivial gathering with him tell me that He was also waiting for me from last twelve years to complete the story. And after a long wait I realized Yes He belongs to me, He is my brother from previous birth who might lost in the fair. Now He is an inevitable part of my life an integral part of my life who guides me on the path of life with his vision and mission vey Intellectual sharp minded with great personality traits and Behavior above it all ‘Knows to respect Emotions’ .

And this journey of life and learning became beautiful the day he enters, flourishing the life, cherishing the life with greatness of thoughts and emotions. We both now are completing the sketchy parts of the previous life. every bit of the second excites me to witness him again and again every meeting with him charges me his single sight produce lot of emotions and every single second said ‘more and more’ Meet “Dushyant” You Have your Integral part of life before you ” Vishal “

Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking, a kind of social phobia, the fear of the social situation. Too many of us scared to speak not only in front of the group even also with a stranger, in short, but it can also even occur in front of a few people. A study tells that 4 out of 5 choose to die over public speaking.
The people who are suffered from these always tried to avoid social gatherings also get symptoms such as Sweating, headache, increasing heartbeat, dry mouth, suffocation and mental stress. Glossophobia can be successfully treated with several ways .one of them is Cognitive- Behavioural Therapy (CBT) but the best way is yourself only, you are the only therapist who can come over from this if you really want to do. You will gradually command over your speech and confidence which will help out in public speaking.

Increasing Use of AI and Machine Learning 

According to Gartner’s 2019 CIO Agenda survey, the percentage of organizations adopting AI jumped from four to 14% between 2018 and 2019. Given the benefits that AI/ML offers in business analysis, risk assessment, R&D, and resulting cost-savings, AI implementation will continue to rise in 2020. 

However, many organizations that adopt AI and Machine Learning don’t fully understand these technologies. In fact, Forbes points out that 40% of the European companies claiming to be ‘AI startups’ don’t use the technology.

While the benefits of AI and ML are becoming more evident, businesses will need to step up and hire people with the right skills to implement these technologies. Some are well on their way. KPMG’s recent survey of Global 500 companies shows that most of those surveyed expect their investment in AI-related talent to increase by 50-100% over the next three years.  

Transparency Trends in AI

Despite becoming so ubiquitous, AI suffers from trust issues. As businesses plan to increase their use of AI systems, they will want to do so more confidently. After all, no one wants to trust the decisions of a system that they don’t understand. 

Hence, there will be a bigger push for deploying AI in a transparent and clearly-defined manner in 2020. While companies will make efforts to understand how AI models and algorithms work, AI/ML software providers will need to make sophisticated ML solutions more explainable to users. 

With transparency becoming a key conversation in the AI space, the roles of professionals who are in the trenches of programming and algorithm development will become more critical.

Long before the coronavirus pandemic, college costs had already entered unprecedented territory. According to a study by Broke Scholar, the average cost of tuition and fees — in inflation-adjusted dollars — at both private and public schools has more than tripled from the academic year 1971-72 to 2019-2020.

• In 1971-72, average tuition and fees at a private nonprofit four-year institution cost $11,540 in 2019 dollars. For the 2019-20 academic year, the current average cost is $36,880 for tuition and fees: an increase of 220%.
• In 1971-72, average tuition and fees at a public four-year institution cost $2,710 in 2019 dollars. For the 2019-20 academic year, the current average cost is $7,730: an increase of 285%, which means it nearly quadrupled.

Thus, the costs associated with attending a college or university were already moving in an unfavourable direction for the average American household. But throwing the COVID-19 pandemic into the equation is now presenting a multitude of issues that could accelerate this trend or send it off into erratic directions. On the other side of the equation, the colleges are facing troubling financial straits due to the disruption in tuition, fees and on-campus life.

“When it comes to higher education institutions, the pandemic has had — and will continue to have — a drastic financial impact. Institutions are suffering from lost revenue to partial tuition refunds, room and board, fees, etc.,” said Michael Hansen, CEO of Cengage. “For example, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which oversees 14 universities, including the first HBCU (historically black college and university) of Cheyney University, and 17,000-student West Chester University, is projecting a $100 million loss from room and board and other fees. And the University of Wisconsin at Madison is estimating a $100 million loss due to COVID-19 impacts, which does not include potential lost revenue from lower enrolment in the fall. While a select few institutions have large endowments to help them navigate through this unprecedented period, the majority do not.”

PARENTS FROM DIFFERENT STATES MOVES SC SEEKING MORATORIUM ON SCHOOL FEES FOR LOCKDOWN PERIOD

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court by the parents of children from different States seeking declaration of moratorium or deferment of payment of school fees during the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

The plea also seeks direction to Centre and all the States for directing all the private unaided/aided schools to only charge the proportionate fees based on actual expenditure towards the conduct of the online virtual classes and no other fees from the students since April 1 till the commencement of physical classes.

“The Petitioners belonging to different states of the country have come together being constrained to approach this Court seeking inter alia the protection of fundamental right to life as well as education guaranteed under the Constitution of India, 1950 which the children & students enrolled up to the Class XII of various Indian states are being deprived of due to supervening factors namely, the ongoing pandemic- COVID-19 period,” the plea said.

It said that due to COVID-19 induced lockdown, financially incapacitated parents have to bear the brunt of the fees of the children, even after being faced with constant financial and emotional hardships which may leave a few of them with no option but to withdraw their children or students from seeking institutional/school education for an unforeseeable period of time.

“The Petitioners are also aggrieved apart from other issues as raised in the present petition by the unorganised and adversely influencing education imparted in the name of online classes, without addressing the supervening factors of incapacity of 25 per cent EWS category students, adverse impact of education of children of unregulated online education for students of Standard Nursery to 5th and for other students as well,” the plea said.

The parents through the petition filed through advocate Mayank Kshirsagar and drawn by advocate Pankhuri said that they are highlighting various factors leading to creation of hostile discrimination of children and parents of various states in India as some protection may be available for children or students in some states and the same may not be available in other states.

Parents of the school going children who have moved the top court hail from Rajasthan, Odisha, Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Maharashtra.

In their plea they said that considering the adverse impact of online education, ban has been imposed by Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh while other States have not considered its impact.

It said that after COVID-19 disease was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, on March 25, 2020, a country wide lockdown was announced whereby all the activities including the educational sector were shut down completely having a catastrophic effect over the economy of the country with many people losing their jobs or getting a deducted or nil income and facing immense sufferings in their daily life.

“The school going children and students were unable to attend the physical classes at their respective schools. Some of the private aided/unaided schools made arrangements for online classes in April, 2020 however the same has not been universally made available and even cases where no online classes are being conducted the schools are charging normal fees and rather some schools have hiked the fees,” the plea said.

It added that many of the schools hiked their fees and/or started harassing the students’ parents to pay the entire quarterly fees in advance despite the non-functioning of the schools and the students not availing any of the services provided by the schools.

The petition said that despite circulars issued by various States asking private aided/unaided schools ought not to hike their fees in the times of the pandemic, no substantial relief in the form of waiver of fees, or reduced fees, or proportionate fees as per actual expenditure etc. was granted to the students in most of the states, leaving their parents with a huge financial burden to bear, impliedly resulting in the student’s right to life and education getting infringed and violated.

“It is further noteworthy that no specific provision/direction was issued by various states as mentioned with regard to the 25 per cent economically and socially backward/weaker students under the RTE Act, 2009,” it said.

The plea sought directions to Centre and all the States for directing all the private unaided/aided schools to not charge any fees whatsoever from the enrolled students of such schools for a period of three months starting from April 1 till July 1 or till the commencement of offline/physical school classes.

It also sought directions to Centre and all the States for directing schools to only charge the proportionate fees based on actual expenditure towards the conduct of the online virtual classes and no other fees whatsoever from the enrolled students of such schools since April 1 till the commencement of offline/physical school classes.

The petition said that direction be issued to schools to only charge the ‘tuition fees’ and no other fees whatsoever from the enrolled students since April 1 till physical classes resumes.

IMPACT OF THE SCHOOL FEE PAYMENT PROBLEM ON TEACHING STAFF

However, while there is uninterrupted dissemination of education services provided by our valiant teaching staff despite awaiting their dues, their sacrifices along with the non-teaching staff must be appreciated.

It must also be noted that these teachers who are going beyond the call of duty are solely dependent on their salaries for their livelihood.

There are an approximate 5 Crore teaching and non-teaching staff employed in over two Lakh schools across India who are hoping that parents come forward at the time of crisis so that salaries can be paid to the staffers.

Here, the government and parents should ensure teachers’ concerns are considered by releasing adequate funds as an immediate resort which will help reduce the financial strain on them.

The government, state bodies, education boards, financial and educational institutions, and parents should jointly formulate a mechanism to make sure that academics and institutions don’t come to a grinding halt or a closure due to paucity of funds.

 

HERE ARE THREE THINGS THAT CAN BE DONE TO SOLVE THE SCHOOL FEE PAYMENT ISSUE DURING LOCKDOWN

1. Providing interest-free loans to parents to pay fees as education is a part of the priority lending sector

This will ensure that no pillar of India’s growth will be compromised due to dearth of funds.

While RBI has on numerous occasions infused stimulus packages in our economy, this would be the first time the Central Bank can issue loans with zero interest and also provide relaxation in payment tenure for schools and higher education fees.

2. Interest-free loans should be extended to schools to pay salaries

The past decade has witnessed many sectors benefiting from the Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank of India to prevent collapse of business and these sops have helped these sectors revive their growth story.

While education is part of a priority lending sector, granting them interest-free loans to pay fees for crore of teaching and non-teaching staff would immensely help them and also reduce the burden of the parents who are obligated to pay timely fees.

This would also help conduct urgent repairs in schools to prepare them for the resumption of the academic year post-pandemic.

3. Provide subsidies for school bus operators due to drop in oil prices

The world has witnessed a slump in the oil market and while it is important for India to adjust costs owing to the pandemic by keeping a check on the excise rates and taxes on petroleum products.

Citing the present state of affairs, the government should also look into certain tax breaks or subsidies to aid these operators. This will have a direct bearing on the economics of every parent who are sending their children to school.