Chandigarh, July 22 -- Days after the Punjab government promulgated an ordinance for regulating school fees in private schools in the state, the National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA) and Recognised Affiliated Schools Association (RASA), Punjab, on Tuesday strongly opposed the move to cap the annual fee increase of private schools at 5% and require schools to refund any fee collected beyond the prescribed limit during the past three years. Addressing a press conference here, NISA president Kulbhushan Sharma and RASA chairman Harpal Singh said the decision could adversely affect the financial sustainability of private schools. "If the issue is not resolved by the state government, we will have no option but to knock on the doors of the high court for appropriate legal intervention," they said. Punjab has around 9,000 private schools with a combined student enrolment of nearly 30.63 lakh. Under the earlier prevailing policy, private schools were legally permitted to increase fees by up to 8% annually. The state government amended the Punjab Regulation of Fees of Unaided Educational Institutions Act, 2016 to impose a 5% cap on annual fee hikes following the death of a girl student by suicide allegedly due to pressure from her school over pending dues. Sharma urged the state government to initiate a comprehensive dialogue with all stakeholders to evolve a balanced, transparent and scientifically designed fee regulation policy. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann said there was no rethink by the state government. "We will not roll back the changes made in the law," he said. The state government is expected to introduce a bill in the upcoming monsoon session to replace the ordinance....