CJP founder shines light on govt apathy in rural school

Dipke travelled 234-km from his residence in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to Santuk Pimpri to attend an Independence Day flag-hoisting ceremony, and visited a zilla parishad school in the village to inspect its basic facilities

MUMBAI: Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke launched the ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign from his ancestral village Santuk Pimpri, in Hingoli district, on Saturday, calling attention government’s neglect of state-run schools and alleging that students from underprivileged families were bearing the brunt even after 80 years of independence.

CJP founder shines light on govt apathy in rural school. (Hindustan Times)

Dipke travelled 234-km from his residence in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to Santuk Pimpri to attend an Independence Day flag-hoisting ceremony, and visited a zilla parishad school in the village to inspect its basic facilities. Sharing videos of the school’s condition, he listed the shortcomings: “No drinking water, no benches, dirty washrooms, broken windows, no water supply.”

In one of the videos, Dipke showed a broken window at the government school covered with banners featuring deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. He also showed the condition of the toilets and questioned whether such facilities were fit for children. “How is any kid supposed to use this toilet?” he asked, showing a commode covered with dirt and garbage.

Another video showed him sitting among schoolchildren, asking them about the problems they faced and noting down their responses. He said he had spoken to the village sarpanch, who assured him that the issues would be addressed at the earliest. “The sarpanch of my village has assured that the gram panchayat will resolve all these issues within a week,” he said, adding, “Change is possible when we come together and act.”

Apart from this, he also demanded a cap on private school fees and announced that his outfit would launch a similar campaign against the poor condition of public hospitals.