BHOPAL: Ruckus by a group of youngsters marked the first meeting of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) School Thik Karo Abhiyan in the Madhya Pradesh capital.
According to CJP's state coordinator for the School Thik Karo campaign, Maya Vishwakarma, the first meeting of the campaign, aimed at conducting a social audit of government schools in Madhya Pradesh, was held at Gandhi Bhawan in Bhopal on Sunday evening.
“It wasn’t an open forum, instead it was a closed-door meeting, where all those working in the education sector, including the School Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (organization formed in MP to protest against the closure and merger of government schools) were invited for discussing how to proceed with the social audit of government schools in MP. Just around 20 minutes before the meeting was to conclude, a group of youngsters gate-crashed into the hall, where the meeting was being held,” Vishwakarma said.
She added that when the group of youngsters entered the hall, the meeting was nearing its conclusion and a question-and-answer session was under way. One of the youngsters in the group, which had arrived without an invitation, started asking questions that were not related to the subject of the meeting.
“One of the youngsters took the mike and started asking questions which were in no manner related to the issue for which the meeting was organized. We realized that the youngsters, who were accusing our movement of being associated with anti-nationals, were actually at the venue in a targeted manner to disrupt the proceedings. We took the mike away telling them that the questions being raised by them were not at all related to the subject of the meeting,” she added.
Unsatisfied with the response of those present at the meeting, including CJP national organisation in-charge Ajinkya Shinde, the youngsters started raising anti-CJP and “Won’t Allow Bhopal to Become Delhi” slogans.
“I asked the CJP national organization in-charge Ajinkya Shinde, how will they ensure that the school survey campaign being planned by them in MP, is not misused by anti-national elements like what happened at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Not only did he (Shinde) render me satisfactory answers, but CJP volunteers snatched the mike from me, scuffled with me and then misbehaved with youngsters forming part of our group,” alleged Gautam Jaiswal, a fourth-year student at the state government’s Institute of Excellence in Higher Education (IEHE), Bhopal.
Vishwakarma said, “While the group of youngsters (who were possibly associated with the BJP’s student wing BJYM) continued to raise slogans outside after leaving the hall, we concluded our meeting at around 7 pm. When we came out, we saw that the police personnel, including female cops had come to the venue. A senior police officer asked us how the event was being organized at the Gandhi Bhawan without informing the local authorities or taking permission from the local police.”
A day after the ruckus, the youngsters who protested at the CJP’s School Thik Karo campaign strategy meeting at Bhopal’s Gandhi Bhawan on Sunday evening reportedly met Shyamala Hills police station in-charge Neelam Patwa.
While alleging that the programme was held without permission and that they were misbehaved with, the youngsters submitted a memorandum seeking an investigation and action. The students alleged that some students had attended the CJP programme on Sunday. During the question-and-answer session, an attempt was made to snatch the microphone from student Gautam Jaiswal, following which a dispute arose.
The students also demanded an investigation into whether permission had been obtained to organise the programme and whether the Gandhi Bhawan management was aware of it. In the memorandum, the students demanded that the video recording of the programme and CCTV footage be examined and action taken against those found guilty.
Meanwhile, the CJP began the social audit of schools under the School Thik Karo campaign on Monday, starting with the government school in Mehragaon village of Saikheda block in Narsinghpur district.
Mehragaon village forms part of state school education minister Rao Uday Pratap Singh’s Gadarwara assembly constituency. The MP coordinator of the campaign, Maya Vishwakarma (who, as the AAP candidate, stood a distant third against Singh in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from the Hoshangabad seat), is the village’s sarpanch.
According to Vishwakarma and CJP national organisation in-charge Ajinkya Shinde, “During the social audit, a serious lack of several basic facilities necessary for students came to light at the school. There was no proper toilet arrangement at the school, and water was also not available in the toilet. Basic facilities such as sufficient benches, fans and lights for children to sit and study were also not available. The most concerning situation was that students from classes one to five were being taught in a single classroom. The problem of cow dung and mosquitoes was also visible outside the school classrooms. Sports material necessary for children to play was also not available. Meanwhile, liquor bottles were also found on the school premises, raising serious questions about the school environment and the safety of the children.”
Questioning these conditions that came to light during the campaign, Ajinkya Shinde said that if children in government schools are not provided even basic facilities such as toilets, water, seating arrangements, fans, electricity and a safe environment, then how will parents be encouraged to send their children to these schools?
“All the issues and shortcomings identified during the social audit will be presented before the Education Department, so that necessary action can be taken to resolve these problems. At the same time, the school education minister of Madhya Pradesh is requested to take the poor condition of the school in this village (which falls under his assembly constituency) seriously and ensure that the necessary improvements are made immediately. This is not merely a question of one school, but a question of the future of the children of the village and their right to education,” Vishwakarma added.
