‘Would you feed this to ministers’ children?’ CJP founder Dipke flags expired food at Hingoli school

Hingoli: CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Saturday claimed that expired food packets meant for students were found at a government-run school in Aundha in Maharashtra's Hingoli district during a visit under his 'School Thik Karo' campaign.

Dipke alleged that packets of spices being used to prepare food for students had expired in February, raising concerns over the quality of the midday meals served at the school.

Showing the packets to the media, Dipke questioned whether the children of ministers or government officials would be served food prepared using expired ingredients.

“The students are given food from packets that expired back in February. Now September is about to start. Will they feed the children of ministers from the same packets?” he said.

Water supply and filter issues flagged

Dipke also inspected the school's overhead water tank and checked the water supply on the premises.

He claimed that although the school had a water filter, it was not functioning, forcing students to rely on borewell water for drinking.

He also alleged that there was no water supply in the school's bathroom.

Dipke spoke to the concerned local official over the phone and raised the issues during his visit.

“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,” he said.

He further alleged that several basic facilities were missing from government schools in the area, including drinking water, usable toilets and benches.

87 students, two classrooms

Dipke claimed that the school had only two classrooms for 87 students, despite four grades being sanctioned.

He also alleged a shortage of teachers and said students at some schools were forced to sit on the floor due to a lack of benches.

“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?” he asked.

Dipke said the government needed to prioritise basic infrastructure in rural schools so that children from disadvantaged backgrounds could receive a quality education.

'School Thik Karo' campaign

Dipke launched the 'School Thik Karo' campaign on August 15 to highlight infrastructure deficiencies in rural government schools and seek greater accountability from authorities.

During his campaign, he also visited Kadoli village, where he claimed to have found a school building constructed in 1950 that had not undergone any major work since then.

He criticised the authorities over what he described as inadequate attention to government schools, saying political priorities appeared to take precedence over providing basic facilities for children.

The allegations made during the visit could not be independently verified.