LATUR — Activist Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), has called for the immediate resignation of Maharashtra Education Minister Dada Bhuse after raising serious allegations of administrative deception, neglect, and illicit activities at a primary school in Latur district.
The allegations follow a surprise inspection conducted by Dipke at a Zilla Parishad school in Ausa taluka as part of his organisation’s ongoing “School Theek Karo” (Fix The Schools) audit drive across public educational institutions in the region.
Allegations of Staged Attendance and Misconduct
Following the visit, Dipke released video footage on social media depicting his interaction with classroom pupils. In the video, several children informed him that they were enrolled in neighboring institutions rather than the host primary school. The activist alleged that school authorities had brought in “rented students” from outside to artificially inflate attendance figures for visiting auditors and local journalists.
Dipke further claimed that clean dining plates for the mid-day meal program were hastily arranged shortly before his visit to present a favorable image, while basic necessities—such as functioning restrooms and clean drinking water—were missing. He also alleged that empty liquor bottles were discovered within the school compound, indicating unauthorized access and unlawful activities on campus after school hours.
Critiquing the state’s public infrastructure, Dipke described the classroom conditions as sub-standard, drawing attention to broken benches, structural damage, and leaking roofs.
School Administration Denies Allegations
The school’s principal, Balaji Gawali, strongly refuted the claims, clarifying that the premises house two distinct operational units: a Marathi-medium school and an Urdu-medium school. Gawali stated that all attendees present during the inspection were officially enrolled students across the two units and denied that children were brought in from external schools.
Addressing the claims regarding the mid-day meal infrastructure, the principal maintained that the students were using standard plates supplied to the facility and that no setup was staged for the media or activists.
Political Demands and Eight-Day Deadline
In response to the inspection, Dipke demanded the resignation of School Education Minister Dada Bhuse and called for the suspension of local Block Education Officers (BEOs) within eight days for failing to maintain basic educational standards in the district.
The Cockroach Janta Party confirmed it will continue its 10-point social audit framework across municipal and state-run primary schools in Latur district to evaluate safety, cleanliness, administrative records, and infrastructure compliance.
