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School challenge: Pargat calls Sisodia fake leader, accuses him of misleading people
Punjab education minister Pargat Singh on Monday alleged that his Delhi counterpart was misleading people by releasing “fake figures” pertaining to schools run by AAP government in the national capital
Hitting out at his Delhi counterpart Manish Sisodia, Punjab education minister Pargat Singh on Monday termed him a “fake leader” and alleged that he was misleading people by releasing “fake figures” pertaining to schools run by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the national capital.
In a series of posts on Twitter, Pargat said that Delhi deputy chief minister Sisodia, who also holds the charge of education, has released a list of 250 schools in the national capital without going into the relevant details sought by him.
“I had asked him to compare Delhi and Punjab schools on the national performance grading index 2021. I think Sisodia was in a hurry to respond, but had not read what I asked for,” said Pargat Singh in a press statement released by the education department based on his messages on the micro-blogging site.
Sisodia on Sunday issued a list of 250 government schools for review of education reforms in the national capital and sought a list of 250 government schools of Punjab from the his Punjab counterpart. This came a day after Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal accepted Pargat Singh’s challenge for a debate on the education system of the two states.
Pargat, a former Indian hockey team captain, was given the charge of the education ministry after Charanjit Singh Channi took over as the Punjab chief minister on September 20 this year.
Punjab minister seeks more details
“The list (of schools) that Sisodia had released should also throw light on school-wise enrolment numbers, permanent teachers and vacancies, Class 10th results and the names of principals,” said Pargat, asking his Delhi counterpart to mention the figures from the 2013-14 to 2019-20 academic sessions, “so that everyone has a clear picture”.
Stating that he had asked for the same information earlier too, Pargat said: “I wonder what you are hiding.”
Asserting that he will not let Sisodia get away like this, the Punjab minister further posed a series of questions to him on Twitter: If there is a decline in students, what education reform will you do? When there are no principals, who are you sending on training? When children fail in 10th, then who will go for higher education? Why to talk about infrastructure when there is no new school?
“Since @msisodya ji might be reluctant to discuss these points, I will request @arvindkejriwal ji to give the complete list. Let us decide once for all who is “real” and who is “fake” Aam Aadmi (sic)”, Pargat wrote in the concluding message on Twitter.
Sisodia could not be contacted for a reaction till the filing of this report.
