CJP chief Dipke claims expired food packets found at Maharashtra govt school

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Saturday claimed that expired food packets meant for students were found at a government-run school in Aundha in Maharashtra's Hingoli district during his visit as part of the "School Thik Karo" campaign.

Dipke showed packets of spices to the media and claimed they had expired in February, raising concerns over the quality of food being provided to students.

"The students are given food from packets that expired back in February. Now September is about to start. Will they feed the children of ministers from the same packets of food?" he said.

During his visit, Dipke also inspected the school's overhead water tank and raised concerns over the availability of safe drinking water. He said the school had a water filter but that it was not functioning, forcing students to rely on borewell water.

"There is a filter, but the students are drinking borewell water because the filter is not functioning. There is no water in the bathroom also," he told a local official over the phone.

Dipke also flagged the school's infrastructure, claiming that it had only two classrooms for 87 students despite four grades being sanctioned.

He alleged that the condition of the school reflected wider shortcomings in government-school infrastructure and said students from economically weaker families were being denied basic facilities.

"The school has only two classrooms for 87 students while four grades are sanctioned," he said.

Dipke launched the "School Thik Karo" campaign on August 15, focusing on basic infrastructure and facilities in rural government schools. The campaign aims to highlight deficiencies and demand greater accountability from authorities.

The claims regarding the expired food packets and other deficiencies were made by Dipke during his visit. The report does not include an independent verification of the expiry dates or the other allegations.