While the West Bengal Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Rules require recognized unaided schools to pay their teachers on par with state scales (such as ROPA 2009/2019) to obtain an NOC, courts have consistently ruled that private schools cannot be forced to pay salaries that completely exceed their financial viability if they receive no government financial assistance.

2)An unaided, private budget school is financially autonomous and generates its revenue primarily through student fees. The management must be able to reasonably balance teacher remuneration with the fee-paying capacity of the parents they serve. Forcing unviable salary structures onto unaided schools can be challenged as a violation of their fundamental right to establish and administer an educational institution under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution

Budget schools across West Bengal often approach the Hon'ble High Court at Calcutta, challenging the government's NOC denial if it is arbitrarily tied to paying ROPA scales without government financial backing.

The unaided budget schools are legally bound by state norms to pay prescribed pay scales (such as ROPA) to obtain a Certificate of Recognition / No Objection Certificate (NOC). However, in practice, this requirement presents a severe operational conflict.

Section 23(3) of the RTE Act states that the salaries, allowances, and terms of service of teachers shall be as prescribed by the appropriate government.

The West Bengal government’s conditions for granting an NOC or Certificate of Recognition to private unaided schools mandate that teaching and non-teaching staff must be paid in accordance with the state’s pay scales (e.g., ROPA 2009/2019).

Compliance with state pay scales without government aid leads to financial insolvency, while non-compliance risks the refusal or cancellation of NOC/recognition under the UDISE system.

Individual budget schools rarely succeed in altering government policy alone. School associations (such as National Independent Schools Alliance - NISA or local West Bengal budget school federations) actively petition state governments to create a distinct, rationalized recognition framework tailored to low-cost private schools.

As this mandate causes widespread financial distress among low-budget schools, the primary recourse for affected management bodies is collective legal intervention in the High Court or formal petitioning through budget school associations to seek a rationalized wage norm for unaided institutions.

To obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) and RTE recognition in West Bengal despite the mismatch between ROPA pay scale requirements and actual revenue, budget private schools typically utilize a combination of administrative, legal, and organizational strategies.

Independent budget school associations (such as NISA or local West Bengal private school federations) submit joint representations to the School Education Department.

Associations lobby the state government to treat low-fee unaided budget schools under a distinct "low-cost private school" regulatory framework, advocating for salary norms tied to average fee collection rather than government-funded ROPA scales.