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Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 8:56:24 pm

Build ‘model schools’ from PM CARES fund: CJP

Mumbai: In an unexpected surgical strike, the Cockroach Janta Party has questioned why a massive corpus of thousands of crores of rupees, lying in the Prime Minister CARES Fund, is kept idle when there are dire needs for funds in various sectors, particularly government schools – kicking off a new political storm – on Wednesday. CJP Founder Abhijeet Dipke today directly asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on what he termed as “so much of public money lying untouched and unutilised” in the PMCF...

Build ‘model schools’ from PM CARES fund: CJP

Mumbai: In an unexpected surgical strike, the Cockroach Janta Party has questioned why a massive corpus of thousands of crores of rupees, lying in the Prime Minister CARES Fund, is kept idle when there are dire needs for funds in various sectors, particularly government schools – kicking off a new political storm – on Wednesday. CJP Founder Abhijeet Dipke today directly asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on what he termed as “so much of public money lying untouched and unutilised” in the PMCF while state-run schools across the country continue to struggle for even basic infrastructure. Dipke said an amount of nearly Rs 8,500-cr shown in the PMCF as of March 2025 and demanded why this money could not be deployed for public education and other critical needs. He pointed at how schoolchildren in several parts of India continue to face shortages of drinking water, proper roads and even benches to sit on in classrooms, during his recent visits to some such government schools. “On one hand, Rs. 8,500-cr is lying unutilised, while on the other, children across the country have to demand proper roads, drinking water, benches and other basic infrastructure in schools. Instead this money could be diverted to setting up ‘Model Schools’ which could benefit the students and the society. Dipke contended that if a well-equipped ‘model school’ costs around Rs. 8-cr, the government could build more than 1000 such modern educational institutions with the idling PMCF corpus alone. Endorsing the views, the CJP posted: “So much of the public’s money is lying untouched and unaccounted for in a ‘Private Fund’ called the PM CARES Fund. Public schools cite a lack of funds for their poor condition, yet more than Rs. 8,450- cr. remains unused. If it is the people’s money, why can’t it be used to build and repair schools? Lack of funds was never the problem. Lack of intent is.” The CJP chief emphasised that since the money has come from the people it should ultimately serve the public causes, particularly for the education of the underprivileged children in far flung areas. Dipke’s statement came a day after the PMCF released its audited balance sheets which provided a new round of ammunition even to the Opposition, reviving questions that have shrouded the fund since its creation in March 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdowns. Interestingly, the PMCF balance sheet came days after a CJP leader had claimed in a press conference in New Delhi that the Jantar Mantar 28-day long agitation was allegedly financed from this fund. The PMCF gets no direct budgetary allocation and is funded through voluntary donations, and it is exempted under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FRCA) for which it maintains a separate account to receive overseas donations. Opposition piles on The Congress sought a comprehensive inquiry into the PMCF and alleged a possible nexus between corporate donations to it and awarding of plum government contracts awarded to some of the donor companies. AICC Scheduled Castes Department President and Uttar Pradesh In-Charge Rajendra Pal Gautam also questioned the “very need” for setting up the PMCF when the PM’s National Relief Fund was already operational since Jan. 1948. All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) MP Mahua Moitra picked purported flaws in the PMCF balance sheet released: “PM Doesn’t Care. R. 8,452-cr. lying unspent. Balance sheet is UNSIGNED. Some KKC Associates auditors with Gujarati partners Shah & Parekh have not even bothered with signatures, tracking or notes. Outside CAG, RTI or Parliaments scrutiny.” 'Still in the 60s': Dipke claims broken toilet doors, missing taps at Hingoli school Hingoli: Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke said a government school in Maharashtra's Hingoli district appeared to be stuck in the 1960s after he found broken toilet and classroom doors and missing taps in the washrooms. Dipke, whose group launched the 'School Thik Karo' (improve government schools) campaign last week, visited the school at Kadoli village in his native district on Tuesday. He went to the premises around 7.30 pm, after school hours, and checked the campus. A video of his visit to the school and subsequent interaction with the villagers has surfaced on social media. "It felt as if I was visiting a school in the 1960s. An old tin-roofed toilet, broken doors and no taps in the washrooms. What to do with these washrooms? Those concerned did not do their duty (in maintaining the school premises)," he said. He also had a word of criticism for the local residents. "The villagers are also wrong because they kept quiet," he said.

Why Justin Trudeau Got Unpopular?

Justin Trudeau

The Canadian downfall has a lot to do with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. However, the rising unpopularity of Justin Trudeau is not a recent development. Trudeau in fact hit the rock bottom a long time ago. Needless to say, he is running a minority government, and he has somehow managed to survive with outside support driven by the ever freckling nature of the Khalistani supporter Jagmeet Singh.


While Trudeau was struggling to secure his position in the country, what made matters worse is that he ended up alienating a member of his own team. This sowed the seeds of the latest debacle.


Trudeau’s Deputy Prime Minister Christian Freeland resigned some two weeks back and the downfall accelerated. She was also Canada’s Finance Minister. Freeland publicly tendered her resignation with scathing claims against Justin Trudeau.


The resignation said that Justin Trudeau asked her to step down from the Finance Ministry because of load standing ideological differences in financial decisions. Freeland wanted to cut spending to reign in the budget deficit which had risen to 60 billion Canadian dollars. She wished to bring it down to 40 billion Canadian dollars. However, Trudeau was not allowing her to take the necessary steps. He refused to control government spending. In her resignation letter, Freeland had said that Canada needed to prepare itself for Donald Trump and his moves after he takes over as the US president.


Trump had threatened tariffs on goods from Canada as high as 20 percent which had the potential to crush Canada’s export sector completely. Freeland had pointed out, “Otawa needed to keep its fiscal powder dry.”


However, Trudeau seemed to be in no mood to care for the people of Canada and he was desperate to secure his benefits. Trudeau is planning to dole out money to the tune of 250 dollars to Canadians earning 150 thousand dollars annually. Such attempts to gather public favour are not new. While his popularity went down significantly over last nine years, Trudeau got into desperate attempts to ensure his reelection in 2025 polls by distributing money to the people in a bid to regain his popularity. Freeland called it “a costly political gimmick”.


Freeland in her resignation letter also mentioned that Trudeau was planning many more such costly gimmicks. She mentioned that Trudeau was planning a tax break on essential items. While this was planned during holiday season was supposed to cost 1.6 billion Canadian dollars in loss tax revenue.


Trudeau’s desperate attempts to buy popularity were going to crush Canada’s long term fiacal health. This prompted Freeland to quit and abandon the chaotic situation. Furthermore, Canada’s Housing Minister Sean Frazer too decided to quit adding to the sentiment of demand for Trudeau to step down as the leader of the Liberal Party by his own MPs. Needless to say, Trudeau’s rivals and allies like Jagmeet Singh made the most of it by strengthening the call for his resignation. However, he refused to step down and appointed a new Finance Minister adding to his depleting popularity.


While a re-election in Canada would mean a threat to Trump’s tariffs and hence Trump went all out launching a scathing attack on Freeland when she decided to resign. Reacting to the development om social media, Trump called her “toxic” and said, “Governor Trudeau was right to fire her.” He not only mocked Freeland but also mocked the Canadian Prime Minister by calling him a “Governor”. Trump further suggested that Canada joined as the 51st state of America to evade tariffs. Situation couldn’t be worse for Trudeau leaving only one option for him and that is to step down as the Canadian Prime Minister.


Trudeau's leadership has been marred by other controversies too. Ethics Scandals, particularly the SNC-Lavalin case, where he was found to have attempted to influence federal prosecutors. Besides he also attracted criticism over governance missteps during COVID-19 pandemic and housing market pressures. Clashes with party members including Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who resigned in December 2024 was the final nail in the coffin.

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