A day after chief minister Bhagwant Mann announced sweeping reforms to curb arbitrary fee hikes by private schools, the Punjab government on Thursday kick-started the process to draft the legislation.The move marks a decisive step by the Punjab government to curb profiteering in the education sector. (Getty Images)School education minister Harjot Singh Bains has written to the school education secretary, directing immediate drafting of legislation that will regulate private school fees, enforce transparency and accountability.The proposed legislation will cap annual fee hikes at 5% and require schools that have increased fees beyond the prescribed 15% threshold over the last three years to refund the excess amount collected from parents.The move marks a decisive step by the Punjab government to curb profiteering in the education sector and ensure that private schools function in the interest of students and parents rather than commercial gain.The chief minister’s announcement came days after the Amritsar police booked the principal and a teacher of a private school following the suicide of a 17-year-old student allegedly due to fee-related harassment.In his order, the school education minister said providing accessible and affordable education was the topmost priority of the government.“More than 32 lakh students are currently enrolled in nearly 7,800 private schools across Punjab. These students and their families deserve robust protection and safeguards against arbitrary fee increases, alongside complete transparency in how these institutions operate,” he said.Bains alleged that the Congress government in 2019 brought in provisions that gave private schools a free hand to increase fees. He said schools were allowed to revise fee structures after merely disclosing the revised fees on notice boards and websites, with little effective regulatory oversight. This opened the door to arbitrary fee hikes and imposed an increasing financial burden on parents across Punjab.