Parents accuse management of forcing them to buy textbooks and stationary from a designated vendor

A city-based school has lodged a police complaint against a parent who had led a series of protests against the management for allegedly forcing them to buy textbooks and stationery from a designated vendor.

The move has not gone down well among the parent community who feel that the management of Baldwin Co-education High School is trying to suppress them. They added that the the school is trying to target parents who led the protest.

The complaint was lodged by the principal with the Rajarajeshwari police station, after which an FIR was filed for criminal intimidation, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, criminal trespass and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.

In May, the third-party vendor of the school had filed a complaint against the parent at Kamakshipalya police station.

Parents have been protesting the school’s decision to allegedly force them to purchase textbooks and stationery from a designated vendor. Several authorities, including the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, had taken note of the protest and summoned the management. The District Education Regulatory Authority (DERA) and the Department of Public Instruction, too, are pursuing the matter.

In May, parents staged three protests in front of the school alleging that books available for less than ₹4,000 were being sold at a cost between ₹9,000 and ₹12,000.

Mr. Murali, the parent who has been named in the complaint, said that he was not demoralised by the turn of events. “I have to fight to ensure that parents, who came for the protests, get justice,” he said.

The school authorities said that the decision to register a complaint with the police was taken by the management, as the parent had created a ruckus in the school. They refused to elaborate.