Supreme Court Directs States To Include Orphan Children Under RTE For Free Education

The Supreme Court has directed all Indian states to include private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act to provide free education to orphan children.

The bench, comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice KV Viswanathan, issued instructions for all states to conduct a survey and release a notification within four weeks.

Survey to Track Enrollment of Orphaned Children

The apex court asked states to report the number of orphan children within their jurisdictions and how many among them are enrolled in schools.

During the hearing, the court highlighted that states like Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, and Delhi have already issued relevant notifications.

Advocate Poulomi Pavni Shukla urged the court to admit orphaned children to schools under the 25% quota reserved for economically weaker sections (EWS) as mandated by the RTE Act.

The petition expressed concern that most states have neither framed a policy for orphans nor compiled any data on them.

UNICEF Estimates 2.5 Crore Orphan Children in India

Citing UNICEF data, the petitioner informed the court that India has approximately 2.5 crore orphan children. She argued that while there are scholarships, reservations, jobs, and loan facilities for weaker sections in India, there is no specific framework for the welfare of orphans.

During the proceedings, the petitioner also requested the court to direct the central government to consider including data on orphaned children in the 2027 census.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, supported the plea and assured the court that he would raise the matter, stating, “Orphan children are our responsibility.”

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