Policy Briefs & Reports

The 86th Amendment to the Constitution has made Elementary Education a Fundamental Right of every child in the age group 6-14 years. Based on this Amendment the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act was passed in Parliament in August 2009 and came into effect on April 1, 2010. This is a landmark legislation that seeks to make fundamental changes in the system of delivering education. One of the first and most crucial challenges facing future of the Act is the establishment of an effective Grievance Redress System. Unfortunately at present a well-defined grievance redress mechanism does not exist. The Act has made local authorities the grievance redress agencies and the SCPCRs the appellate bodies at State level, but that does not suffice to establish the modalities through which violations can be dealt with. A well-defined institutional mechanism for grievance redress involves a system of registering, investigating and responding within a well-appointed time frame. This will have to be done along with the implementation agency, which is charged with the actual redress of the grievance by ensuring that the right under consideration is actually restored. This policy brief indicate some of the issues that need to be addressed in order for a process of Grievance Redress system to be established. These could be framed as Rules for Grievance Redress.

Suggested Citation: Kiran Bhatty (2012). Grievance Redress Mechanism for RTE. Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.