Delhi High Court upholds policy to give cash to EWS students for school uniforms

The Delhi High Court has refused to interfere with the Delhi government’s decision to provide cash to students admitted under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and disadvantaged groups categories in private schools to buy their uniforms.

A bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Renu Bhatnagar dismissed a review petition filed by NGO Justice For All, seeking reconsideration of the court’s January 23 judgment upholding the policy.

The petitioner argued that the Delhi government should provide uniforms to students belonging to EWS and disadvantaged groups in aided and unaided private schools, rather than cash, under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act.

The Delhi government had earlier submitted that its Cabinet considered the procurement and distribution of uniforms unfeasible due to operational constraints. It subsequently introduced a policy in June 2025 to provide students with a suitable amount of money to purchase uniforms.

In an order dated October 12, the bench said the grounds raised in the review petition amounted to an attempt to reargue the case in its entirety. It observed that a policy decision could not be interfered with unless it was so arbitrary, whimsical or capricious that it shocked the conscience of the court.

“The decision of the government that it shall provide cash to the students instead of providing uniforms because of the difficulties faced by the government cannot be said to be completely arbitrary, whimsical or capricious,” the court said.

It added that the material submitted by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD), including the policy dated June 10, 2025, and the note for the Council of Ministers, had been considered before the court concluded that the policy did not violate the statute.

On January 23, the high court had upheld the government’s decision to provide cash directly to eligible students for purchasing uniforms, observing that processing individual orders for each student’s uniform would pose genuine difficulties for the authorities.

It had held that providing a uniform subsidy through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) was not contrary to the Right to Education Act or its rules and would help ensure that students received their uniforms on time.

“Undoubtedly, it would be impossible to carry out the exercise of taking measurements of every student, placing orders for different kinds of uniform cloth on the GeM portal, after procurement of the material getting the uniforms stitched as per the measurements and finally distributing the uniforms in schools before the commencement of a new session,” the court had said.