Ministers’ dogs get better facilities: Dipke on govt schools

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) convenor Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday said Maharashtra School Education Minister Dada Bhuse should resign, claiming government schools are in a pitiable condition and that even “ministers’ dogs get better facilities” than students.

Dipke, whose group launched the ‘School Thik Karo’ (improve government schools) campaign last week, visited a Zilla Parishad school at Ujani village in Latur’s Ausa tehsil.

Later, talking to reporters, he said elected representatives and ministers must be held accountable for the condition of schools, many of which continue to lack basic facilities such as proper classrooms, benches, toilets and safe access roads.

Students in some schools were being treated “worse than animals”, he alleged.

“It is a question of students’ lives. When political leaders are not doing anything for students, why should people vote for them? Do people vote for them so that they can only travel in helicopters? People should see in what conditions their children are studying. The dogs of these ministers get better facilities than this,” he said.

Dipke also asked people to force the leaders of political parties to work for education first and then come to seek votes.

“People should also tell the leaders coming to their village, irrespective of political parties, to work for education. Tell them not to come for votes at our doorstep till they work for education. For politics, we come out of our homes with flags of caste and community. Similarly, we should come out for the schools of our children,” he added.

“These people keep saying that religion is in danger. The religion did not end in so many years, and it is coming to an end in your tenure? The religion will not go anywhere, but the future of kids can get affected,” he claimed.

Dipke said ministers and MLAs should send their own children to government schools to understand the problems faced by students there, he said.

Asked whether Dada Bhuse should continue as school education minister, he said, “The condition of schools makes me feel that the education minister should not continue in the post. If the government wants to understand the urgency of improving government schools, ministers and elected representatives should send their own children to study in these schools.”

Despite being in power for several years, the ruling dispensation had failed to bring about substantial changes in government schools, Dipke charged.

“Students are still studying in schools with leaking tin roofs and without adequate benches. If these basic problems could not be resolved in 10 years, the government must explain what it has achieved,” he said

Source: Nagpur Today