Parents are increasingly speaking out against private schools demanding fees in advance for the June-July summer vacations. Despite clear rules that fees should follow the proper billing cycle and not be collected in advance, some schools are still reportedly forcing early payments. This places serious financial pressure on families as managing extra fees within the same month becomes overwhelming. Many describe the charges as unjust and poorly explained. These actions are being seen as a direct violation of government fee policies, prompting demands for strict enforcement to stop unfair practices and protect families.
Shumaila Asif
Mayur Vihar, New Delhi
‘Extra’Fee
Let me express my thoughts about the ‘Extra’ fee. The well-known economic dictum says money is a matter of four functions – a medium, a measure, a standard, and a store. Though it remains true, it seems to have taken on a different meaning in modern times. It should now read: money is a matter of four functions – grab more, more, more and even more.
I recall an incident from the 1950s. I was studying at a well-known secondary school. The monthly fee was Rs.4 and eight annas (Rs.4.5). However, the teacher would ask students to bring Rs.5, while the receipt issued was only for Rs. 4.5.
On one occasion, a student’s father came to the class and questioned the teacher about this discrepancy. The teacher explained that the additional eight annas were for a poor boys’ fund. This meant that extra money was being collected without proper documentation.
I observed a similar practice during my stay in an Arab country in the 1970s. At the embassy, charges for consular services were collected using two receipts. One was an official receipt bearing the embassy’s emblem, while an additional 10 percent amount was charged under the heading of a ‘community welfare fund’. For this portion, only a bank pay-in slip was issued, as the payment was collected by a bank cashier stationed there. Such examples show how unofficial payments are collected under the unwritten rule of ‘grab more’.
Qasim Abbas
Mississauga, Canada
Via Email ID
Heartiest Congrats to Dr. Shamsul Islam
Recently I read an article titled “Neo Mir Jafars” by respected Dr. Shamsul Islam, a retired professor of Delhi University. (Source: Countercurrents, dated: 11-06-2026).
In the said well-researched article, the learned writer has raised certain logical points to the Muslim intellectuals who met RSS Supremo Shri Bhagwat on behalf of the Muslim community. Please allow me to share a few points from the article with the readers of Radiance.
(1) These Muslim intellectuals should have met for the solution of problems to Indian P.M. or H.M. If not satisfied, they should have approached the President of India and Judiciary. However, they decided to approach RSS top brass which has no legal sanctity. (2) This model opted by Muslim intellectuals presents a horrendous option for the largest minority of India and other smaller minorities in India. Their suggestion to the persecuted minorities to enter into ‘peace pacts’ with the blood-thirsty anti-Islamist gangs is indeed horrendous. (3) And, by the way, under what authority this bunch of ‘Muslim Intellectuals’ present themselves as representatives of Indian Muslims! (4) India needs intellectuals who stand in defence of the Indian democracy and not surrender before an extra-constitutional gang which is known as the most lethal terrorist organisation in the world today for personal gains.
The title of the article “NEO MIR JAFARS” conveys the proper message and is the most appropriate.
Congrats to respected Dr. Shamsul Islam for showing exemplary courage in exposing so-called Muslim hypocrites, time-servers. Keep it up. May your tribe increase.
Farooq Abdulgafar Bawani
Rajkot, Gujarat, India