Schools insist on cash amid digital drive

DHANBAD: Despite shopkeepers and traders adopting cashless transactions, most public schools in the city are yet to change their ways.
Schools insist on receiving tuition fee in cash and not through cheques or debit cards. Ajay Prasad, a government servant whose children study in DAV public school and D'Nobli, said he was in a fix when the schools refused to accept cheques.Prasad was forced to arrange the required amount and deposit the fee, fearing the delay might stop his children from taking the annual exam.
Ironically, the main branch of State Bank of India, where the tuition fee of Carmel School is usually deposited, also refused to accept payment through debit card, despite the availability of point of sale (PoS) machine. The staff at the counter said school fees were accepted only in cash. Parents had to withdraw cash from the nearby ATM instead.
However, the situation is not the same everywhere. Few schools such as Rajkamal Saraswati Mandir and Dhanbad Public School are accepting school fee through cheque and are in the process of becoming 100% cashless. Administrative officer of Dhanbad Public School said their school began accepting cheques for regular students but for new admissions, they are accepting only cash or demand drafts.