The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act was passed by the…

Concept: A law passed by Parliament does not necessarily take effect on the day it receives Presidential assent. Where an Act contains its own commencement clause (often Section 1), that clause can let the Central Government notify — via an Official Gazette notification — the specific date on which the Act actually comes into force, separately from any clause stating which parts of the country the Act extends to.

1. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 completed its passage through Parliament (Lok Sabha) on 4th August 2009, as stated in the question, and received Presidential assent on 26th August 2009.

2. Section 1(2) of the Act itself states that it extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir — so the exclusion of Jammu and Kashmir comes from the Act's own extent clause, not from a separate commencement date.

3. Section 1(3) of the Act separately empowers the Central Government to bring the Act into force on a date to be notified in the Official Gazette.

4. Through Gazette notification S.O. 428(E), the Central Government notified 1st April, 2010 as that date, bringing the Act into force wherever it extends — that is, across all of India except Jammu and Kashmir.

Cross-check: This date is independently confirmed by the Ministry of Education's official records and by India Code, the government's repository of central legislation, both of which record the RTE Act's commencement as 1st April, 2010.

Result: Hence, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act came into force in India (except Jammu and Kashmir) on 1st April, 2010.