Nearly a year after the Delhi High Court passed an interim order, followed by a final order in March, that the income cap for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in Delhi regarding admissions in private schools be increased from the existing Rs 1 lakh per annum, Delhi Lt-Governor V K Saxena Wednesday wrote to Chief Minister Atishi recommending that the change be effected.

Last December, the court had said in an interim order that the annual income limit for the EWS category would be Rs 5 lakh. The government had then moved an appeal in the matter after which it was brought down to Rs 2.5 lakh in the court’s order in March this year. The increase, however, is yet to be notified.

Saxena, in a note to Atishi, said that the limit should be raised to Rs 5 lakh and not Rs 2.5 lakh since even the minimum wage of a skilled labourer is Rs 2.63 lakh. He also pointed to vacant EWS seats in private schools as an indicator of the need to increase the cap.

Saxena wrote that in his view, the limit for admissions to EWS seats in private schools should be in line with the threshold limit of Rs 8 lakh, applicable in case of EWS admissions in higher education institutions or at least Rs 5 lakh as indicated by the HC.