India today stands as the 4th most powerful military force in the world (Global Firepower Index 2024), the world’s 5th largest economy, and is rapidly marching towards becoming the 3rd largest by 2027, with development reaching even the remotest corners — especially post-2014. Our GDP has become mammoth. And yet, the Indian middle class continues to suffer in silence — wailing under the weight of soaring expenses, stagnant real incomes, vanishing job security, and a justice system that repeatedly fails both in process and in outcome.
What is truly infuriating is watching the elite — the tall, proud, influential — roam free even after committing the most heinous crimes. Names like A. Raja, Suresh Kalmadi, Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi have become synonymous with corruption and betrayal, while the justice system plays blind, deaf, and dumb. Over 40% of MPs in the current Lok Sabha face criminal charges — many of them serious, including rape and murder (ADR Report 2024) — and yet, these people continue to legislate laws for us.
But this isn’t about just individuals anymore. Another glaring example of this rot is not a person — it’s an institution. Delhi Public School, Dwarka. Despite numerous court orders, hundreds of showcause notices, and thousands of pleas, nothing seems to apply to this school. They appear to have their own set of laws, which even the authorities now follow.
DPS’s exorbitant fee hikes and its brazen defiance of the Directorate of Education’s (DoE) orders have become a scandal. It’s no secret that DoE officials were not allowed to even enter the school, and the very parents who dared to protest this injustice were barred long ago. DPS has always had a new tactic up its sleeve to harass parents who pay only what is mandated by the DoE — from barring children from online classes during COVID, to now denying them entry into classrooms and access to school facilities.
This school has begun to resemble a jail more than an educational institution — bouncers stationed everywhere, children locked up in the library, and fear replacing learning.
One of the most appalling incidents came to light when a Class 9 girl was confined in the school library for 6 hours — her parents unaware, she was denied access to the washroom, and when finally allowed to go, a bouncer followed her. And this is just one case. Children as young as 13 and 14 have been manhandled. Where are the police? The Child Rights Commission? Silent.
Worse, the school uses the very fees extracted from parents to hire top-tier lawyers to fight against the same parents. When the parents held peaceful protests, they were *forcefully dispersed by the police. Not only does the police refuse to file an FIR, they actively side with the giant — DPS.
Why is this not on primetime? Why is this not a “nation wants to know” issue?
The land on which DPS Dwarka stands was allocated by the Delhi Development Authority at subsidized rates, with specific legal clauses — all of which are being violated with impunity. But justice doesn’t chase them. It walks behind them.
In a country where life expectancy barely touches 70, parents spend 40 years building a life to educate their children — and another 10 years begging for justice. Appeals to AAP education ministers like Sisodia and Atishi were dismissed without a hearing. Now, ironically, the same party pretends to stand with the parents — all to satiate political opportunism.
Legally, a double bench judgment supersedes any single bench ruling — but not at DPS Dwarka. The DM committee’s report exposed the school’s lies — but no action has followed.
Yes, with the BJP in power, the parents were at least heard by the Chief Minister — in person, for the first time. Some action seemed to stir. But even that glimmer was snuffed out — by the invisible hand of money and influence. DPS is once again worry-free, and the children continue to suffer.
Justice has yet to see the light of day. Children are being struck off the rolls, their names publicly listed, denied entry into classrooms, and even school bus conductors and drivers have lists of which children to reject at the gate. The school, with bouncers and teachers working hand in hand, ensures that the children of justice-seeking parents are humiliated and turned away at the door. Children are missing classes, tests — the psychological trauma is deep and irreversible.
The “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” slogan is a cruel joke in this school.
During COVID, while families lost jobs and salaries, DPS raised its fees manifold, pushing parents to breaking point. Many withdrew their children out of helplessness; those who stayed are fighting a daily war — and have lost all peace.
This school claims to teach noble values. But the only lesson children are learning here is how to lie, cheat, exploit, and suppress the weak. If this is the nobility that this institution has to offer, then may such “values” never touch the soul of my country. By( Yajin Bhatt.) freelancer
