Abhijeet Dipke raises questions during campaign

NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke visited villages in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district as part of his ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign, inspecting government schools and raising concerns over the condition of school infrastructure and the quality of food supplies used for midday meals.Speaking about his findings, Dipke said, “I was absolutely shocked by what I saw this morning. The food items being used for the midday meal were expired—they had gone past their expiry date six or seven months ago. I want to ask the ministers, MLAs, and officials—do they feed their own children expired food?”He also raised concerns about basic facilities in government schools, alleging that several schools lacked drinking water, usable washrooms, benches and adequate teaching staff.“Even after all these years, if children in our country’s government schools lack drinking water and usable restrooms and have to sit on the floor because there are no benches—then what exactly has been done?” Dipke said.“Only when the government supports these children and builds good schools for them will they be able to achieve something in life,” he added.Dipke further said, “None of the schools have drinking water, and none of them have washrooms. None of the schools have benches for children to sit on, nor do they have enough teachers.”During his visit to Kadoli village, Dipke said he found a school building that had been constructed in 1950 and claimed that no work had been carried out on it since then.“When I visited Kadoli village, I saw a building that had been constructed back in 1950. No work had been done on that building since 1950,” he said.Dipke alleged that political interests were being prioritised over the needs of children, saying, “Their only priority is gaining power by any means necessary.”Dipke had launched the campaign on August 15 from his native village, Santuk Pipri, and returned to the area to inspect schools in Lohgaon, Karanjal, Jamdaya, Jambhrun and Khillar.Dipke had earlier said the campaign would be expanded to other talukas across Maharashtra before being taken nationwide as a social-audit exercise involving parents and local communities. The initiative has also drawn attention beyond the state.

In Rajasthan, authorities recently barred outsiders from entering government-school premises without prior permission and prohibited photography, videography, interviews and live streaming inside schools. However, officials have not explicitly linked the restrictions to Dipke’s campaign.Dipke is seeking to turn individual complaints about government schools into a broader accountability campaign, arguing that meaningful improvement will require officials, politicians and local communities to confront the conditions in schools firsthand.