Srinagar, Jun 29: The Jammu and Kashmir government has rendered the much hyped Fee Fixation and Regulation Committee (FFRC) headless since April 30 of 2026 following the expiry of the tenure of the chairman of the committee.
The J&K government on March 25 of 2023 appointed Justice (retd) Sunil Hali as the chairman of the FFRC for a tenure of three years, from the date he assumes the charge.
After the passage of three years on March 31 of 2026, his term was extended by one month up to April 30 of 2026.
However, despite the passage of over one month since the expiry of the extended tenure, the government is yet to initiate any exercise for appointment of the new chairman of the FFRC.
Amid this, the FFRC has been rendered defunct and the number of files submitted by the private schools for the fixation of fee structure for the schools are not approved as well.
“Around 2000 files of the schools submitted for approval of the fee structure are awaiting approval because the files cannot be approved by anyone except the chairman of the committee,” an official at FFRC told Greater Kashmir.
He said that besides the school files, the complaints filed by parents and other stakeholders against the private schools are not being processed.
“We are not even able to call any school functionary with regard to any complaint. We are not authorised to take any action without the chairman. The committee is completely defunct as of now,” the official said.
He said the government earlier claimed to further extend the tenure of the incumbent chairman till the new one is appointed.
“But around two months have passed but no decision has been taken by the government so far,” the official told Greater Kashmir.
The official said any parent who approached FFRC with complaints or other grievances with regard to the school fees return disappointed as their issues remain unresolved.
“Amid this, any school can take advantage of the situation as there is no authority with FFRC as of now to take action against the school,” the official added.
There are over 5500 private schools functioning across J&K which fall under the ambit of FFRC to determine and regulate the tuition and other genuine fees charges by these educational institutions.
Minister for Education, Sakina Itoo was not available for her comments on the issue despite repeated attempts
About The Author
