New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal has hit back at the BJP over a campaign to defame Punjab’s government schools, challenging the party to a joint inspection of 1,000 schools each in Gujarat and Punjab. Pointing to the BJP’s 30 years in government in Gujarat against AAP’s 4.5 years in Punjab, he said Punjab’s 19,200 of 19,700 government schools have already been transformed, with work underway in the remaining 500.
The AAP Chief also challenged the BJP to show what it has achieved in 30 years, asserting that Punjab’s schools have been improved collectively by the government, teachers, principals, parents and the people of Punjab.
Releasing a video on Tuesday, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said, “Ever since the Cockroach Janata Party people started inspecting schools in BJP-ruled states, the poor condition of their schools has been coming to light. They did not fix their own schools, but have started defaming schools in Punjab. In just 4.5 years, we have made Punjab’s schools excellent. Punjab has around 19,700 schools, of which we have made 19,200 very good. Work is underway on the remaining 500 schools, and they too will be fixed within the next one-and-a-half to two years.”
Pointing to Punjab’s education rankings, he said, “Today, Punjab is number 1 in the entire country in government school education. This is not something we are saying; it is stated in a report by the central government’s NITI Aayog. Punjab has even surpassed Kerala. When our government was formed in 2022, Punjab was ranked 28th. Today, in just 4.5 years, Punjab is in the number one position in government school education across the country.”
Responding to criticism based on old footage, Arvind Kejriwal asserted, “These people are taking out a video from 2018 and circulating it saying, ‘Look how bad an Aam Aadmi Party school is.’ The school was in poor condition at that time because there was a Congress government, and the BJP had been in government there until 2017. They had left those schools in such a condition, but we have transformed them into excellent schools.”
Highlighting the government’s approach to criticism, he added, “Our intentions are clear. Just a few days ago, an Akali Dal supporter, Rattan Dhillon, posted a tweet about schools. Our Education Minister immediately called him and released a grant for that school. After that, Rattan Dhillon himself tweeted praising our Education Minister and our government. Our intentions are clear and we want to improve schools. People should point out our genuine mistakes and we will fix them, but do not deliberately defame the people of Punjab.”
Emphasising that the transformation was a collective effort, the AAP Chief said, “We have not fixed Punjab’s schools alone. The people of Punjab, teachers, principals, parents and children have all worked together to improve these schools. So do not try to defame them. Do not defame schools by circulating old videos or creating fake pictures using AI. Punjab’s schools have been fixed with great difficulty.”
“If the BJP has the courage, let them accept this challenge. They name 1,000 schools and we will name 1,000 schools. The entire country will watch the joint inspection and see whether Gujarat’s 30-year-old government is better or Punjab’s 4.5-year-old Aam Aadmi Party government,” concluded Arvind Kejriwal.
