Education is considered pious in our culture, but has now become unaffordable: HC

Mumbai: Education, which is considered pious in the Indian culture, has now become unaffordable, the Bombay High Court has said noting it is the state's constitutional responsibility to ensure quality education reaches everyone. A division bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and Jitendra Jain made these observations while refusing to quash decisions taken by the Maharashtra government to grant permission to two organisations to set up educational institutions in Pune.

The HC in its February 21 order said the court is not an expert in education policy matters and state government is the best authority to select the best and mere power to choose cannot be termed as arbitrary."Pune is known as the 'Oxford of the East' for decades and it has attracted students not only from India but other countries as well. This has resulted in Pune being a hub of educational institutions," the HC noted.With the passage of time and due to growth of the city, there has been a huge growth and competition in setting up of colleges and schools not only in the city of Pune but also around its periphery, it said.

In such circumstances, it is the state's constitutional responsibility to ensure quality education reaches one and all to achieve growth and development of humanity, it added.The court dismissed the two petitions, filed by the Jagruti Foundation and the Sanjay Modak Education Society, challenging decisions taken by the state government last year refusing to grant them permission to set up educational institutions in Pune.