CJP launches ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign, seeks cap on private school fees

CJP (Cockroach Janta Party) convenor Abhijeet Dipke on Saturday launched the ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign from his native village in Hingoli district, alleging that poor students were suffering due to neglect of government schools and demanding a cap on private school fees.

Dipke also announced that the CJP would launch a similar movement to assess health facilities at public hospitals, alleging that people suffer due to delays in treatment.

He launched the campaign after visiting a Zilla Parishad school in Santuk Pimpri village, where he claimed basic facilities were inadequate. He said the school’s toilets lacked a water supply, while windows were broken and there were not enough benches for students.

"If basic things like water are missing from government-run schools even 80 years after India became independent, how is the country going to develop?" Dipke told reporters.

He said the campaign would use a checklist to document the availability of basic facilities in government schools.

"We have a form comprising a checklist where it can be mentioned whether there are basic amenities available in the school or not. We will gather the data from schools located in Maharashtra and nationwide. Then we will compile the data," he said.

Dipke said he would visit government schools in other talukas of Maharashtra in the next phase of the campaign and called on people to raise questions about how public funds allocated for education are being utilised.

He alleged that government schools were being shut to benefit private institutions and claimed that more than 94,000 state-run schools had been closed across India over the past 10 years.

"The budget of the Central government has been curtailed for education," he alleged.

He also questioned the disparity between facilities available at government and private schools and said students should have equal opportunities irrespective of their economic background.

During his inspection of the school in his village, Dipke also alleged that the washroom had apparently been cleaned shortly before his arrival. He claimed that the school had broken windows covered with banners featuring Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

"This is a satire on the system of our country. There are no benches in the school. There are only four benches while the number of students is more. If there are benches in private schools, why not in government schools?" he said.

Dipke demanded that private school fees be capped, saying many families were unable to afford the fees charged by such institutions.

"People are paying Rs 1-1.5 lakh in fees. How will poor children get education? Therefore, fees of private schools should be capped,'' he said.

On public healthcare, Dipke alleged that patients were forced to sleep on floors and faced long waits for surgeries, while waiting periods for CT scans could extend to a week.

"We are going to raise health-related issues. When we visit public hospitals, we see people (patients) sleeping on the floor. People have to wait for surgeries. For a CT scan, the wait extends to one week,'' he said.

He said the party intended to involve young people from rural areas in raising issues concerning public services and governance.

"People should come forward and ask the government about utilisation of funds. We will see that youth from rural areas will come forward. Politics in the country will not be decided by the people in cities, but young people from rural areas will also participate in it," he added.