Should be mandatory for education officials to send their kids to government schools, says Dipke

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CJP chief Abhijeet Dipke addresses reporters, slamming a Rajasthan government order that bans unauthorised photography and interviews in state schools, in Hingoli, Maharashtra, Tuesday, August 18, 2026. | Photo Credit: PTI

It should be made compulsory for education department officials to send their children to government schools, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said on Tuesday (August 18, 2026), as he criticised the Maharashtra government for failing to provide transport facilities to rural students.

Ministers and politicians should also send their children to village schools for at least a day to understand the plight of rural students who are forced to walk several kilometres every day, said Mr. Dipke, who last week launched the 'School Thik Karo' (improve schools) campaign.

Speaking to reporters at Limbala in his native Hingoli district, Mr. Dipke evaded a direct reply when asked whether he planned to contest Lok Sabha elections from Hingoli, only saying that if government schools improved, he would have no issue to contest elections on.

Earlier, Mr. Dipke had posted a video of the headmaster of a Zilla Parishad school in the village who allegedly drank and slept in class.

Authorities suspended the teacher on Tuesday (August 18, 2026), but he would not leave the village till a new teacher replaces him, the Cockroach Janta Party leader said.

"This school requires four teachers. They have only two, so two more should be provided. I am also going to visit four to five other schools in the coming days," he said.

Villagers had demanded two years ago that the headmaster be removed, but education department officials took no action, Mr. Dipke claimed.

"Action should also be taken against these officials....If the daughter of an education officer sees a teacher drinking country liquor and sleeping in front of her, will these officials tolerate it?" he asked.

"It is their job to run government schools in a proper way, seeing that teachers are available. Their kids study in private schools, and they are not doing their duty....It should be made mandatory for the children of these officials to study in government schools," the CJP leader said.

This would bring about a drastic improvement in government schools, he said.

''People are [now] asking questions because they are concerned about education and jobs for their children. They have risen above the politics of caste and religion," Mr. Dipke said, adding that people would not vote for them if political leaders failed to improve government schools.

Asked about speculation that he was preparing to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Hingoli seat, he said, "If the government repairs all government schools, there will be no issue left for Abhijeet Dipke to contest Lok Sabha elections on." Some people did not want government schools to improve, because if the children of the poor studied well, it would not help the next generation of today's leaders win elections, Mr. Dipke said.