Trinamul Congress leaders in Darjeeling district have written to all private schools in and around Siliguri, requesting them to defer the last date for payment of study fees of the new session.

“In view of the ongoing pandemic and lockdown in our country, most of the guardians have been facing financial crisis. We have received phone calls from many parents who have requested us to look into the issue, said Ranjan Sarkar, president of Darjeeling (plains) district Trinamul.

“We have requested schools to extend dates for payment of the fees. At most schools, parents need to pay fees for the new session and an extension would help them.”

Nirmalya Acharjee, the general manager (operations) of Delhi Public School Siliguri, confirmed having received the letter. “We haven’t got any clarification from the CBSE yet on the fee issue. The parents of our students have received some automated messages which are basically reminders. They are supposed to pay the fees by April 15 but there is no such pressure from the school on them,” said Acharjee.

He said DPS Siliguri would start online classes from Monday.

“There is no such rule that if a student does not pay the fee, he or she will not be allowed to attend online classes. The Zoom application will be used for online classes,” he added.