Announcing the launch of Cockroach Janta Party campaign ‘Adivasi School Thik Karo’ (improve the condition of schools for tribal children), CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, on Wednesday, tore up a copy of an MoU between the Maharashtra Tribal Development Department and the Late Lakshman Mankar Trust in connection with tribal hostels in a symbolic act of opposition.
Dipke was informed about the Memorandum of Understanding between the Tribal Development Department and Late Lakshman Mankar Trust during a meeting with tribal students in Maharashtra.
Supporting the demand for the cancellation of the MoU, he tore up a copy of the agreement.
Tribal Hostels Ops Handed Over To RSS-linked Trust, Claims Rights Group
The tribal rights group Adivasi Adhikar Bachhav Kriti Samiti had earlier this month alleged that the Maharashtra government had handed over the operations of nearly 490 tribal hostels to a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-linked trust.
A senior official from the Tribal Development Department had termed the allegations “totally baseless”, stressing that no such handover of the hostels can take place. The MoU had been signed with the trust a year ago for facilitating personality development of students, he had said.
CJP’s ‘Adivasi School Thik Karo’ Campaign
Launching ‘Adivasi School Thik Karo’ campaign, Dipke alleged that tribal schools in India faced government apathy over the last 80 years.
Addressing a press conference, Dipke said the campaign is aimed at drawing the government’s attention towards the problems and discrimination faced by tribal students.
A month back, the CJP launched the ‘School Thik Karo’ (Fix the Schools), a nationwide campaign aimed at improving the condition of rural and urban public schools.
Dipke said, “Schools in tribal regions across India have been neglected by all governments in the last 80 years. Therefore, we are starting the ‘Adivasi School Thik Karo’ campaign from Thursday in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.”
As part of the exercise, CJP representatives will visit tribal schools and inspect the facilities and infrastructure, he said.
“Almost all governments have ignored tribal students…Political parties build their party headquarters in every district by spending crores of rupees, but they don’t have funds to give to tribal residential schools that are mostly operated from rented properties,” the CJP convenor said.
Dipke called for focusing on students and schools in tribal belts, saying they have a lot of potential.
With inputs from PTI