Latur School Row: CJP Founder Alleges ‘Rented Students’ and Poor Facilities During Visit
Maharashtra : Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has raised serious questions over the condition and functioning of a government school in Maharashtra’s Latur district after visiting the institution as part of his “School Thik Karo” (Fix the Schools) campaign.
During his visit to a Zilla Parishad school in Ujani village in the Ausa tehsil of Latur, Dipke alleged that students from another school had been brought into classrooms and presented as students of the institution. He questioned why authorities would allegedly need to bring in children from elsewhere instead of showing the actual condition of the school.
Dipke also claimed that some of the children present during his inspection were not listed in the school’s records. He described the incident as an attempt to create a misleading picture of the school’s functioning and demanded accountability from education officials responsible for monitoring government schools in the area.
Apart from the alleged presence of “rented” or outside students, Dipke highlighted several infrastructure and basic-facility issues. According to his claims, the school did not have adequate drinking-water facilities, while the toilets had allegedly been cleaned shortly before his arrival. He also alleged that the school premises had liquor bottles, raising concerns about cleanliness, security and the overall supervision of the institution.
The CJP founder further questioned the availability of essential facilities for children, including proper classrooms, benches, toilets and safe access to schools. He argued that students studying in government institutions should not have to face inadequate infrastructure when education is supposed to be a basic public service.
However, the school administration has rejected the allegations. Principal Balaji Gawali said that two separate schools — one Marathi-medium and one Urdu-medium — operate from the same building, and maintained that the children present during Dipke’s visit were genuine students of the schools. He also denied that students had been brought in specifically to create an artificial impression for the inspection.
The principal also disputed Dipke’s claim regarding newly arranged plates for the mid-day meal. According to the school authorities, the children were using plates that had already been provided to the institution and were not brought in specially for the visit.
The controversy comes as Dipke’s “School Thik Karo” campaign expands its focus on government and municipal schools. The campaign aims to conduct social audits of schools and document problems involving basic infrastructure, administration, safety, cleanliness, mid-day meals, transportation and accessibility.
Dipke has demanded the resignation of Maharashtra School Education Minister Dada Bhuse and called for action against block education officers whom he accused of failing to ensure proper facilities in government schools. He has argued that officials responsible for schools must be held accountable when students continue to study in poor conditions.
The Latur incident has therefore triggered a wider debate over the quality of government-school infrastructure and the effectiveness of administrative monitoring. While Dipke’s allegations have drawn attention to the problems he says he witnessed, the school administration has disputed key parts of his account. The contrasting claims underline the need for an independent verification of the school’s enrolment records, facilities and administrative arrangements before drawing definitive conclusions.
News source: Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
