New Delhi [India], August 25 (ANI): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday challenged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a joint inspection of 1,000 government schools each in Punjab and Gujarat.
Accusing the BJP of defaming Punjab's education system rather than improving its own, Kejriwal, in a post on X, proposed taking the media along to evaluate which state offers superior public education.
He highlighted that while the BJP has governed Gujarat for nearly 30 years, AAP has managed Punjab for just four-and-a-half years.
"I'll give a list of 1,000 schools of Punjab. You give a list of 1,000 schools of Gujarat. Let's inspect these schools together. Let's find out which is better. We will take media with us. BJP is also invited," he said.
Pointing to structural overhauls, Kejriwal claimed the AAP government has upgraded 19,200 of Punjab's 19,700 government schools, with work ongoing for the remaining 500. He also cited NITI Aayog rankings to assert that Punjab jumped from 28th position to 1st in government school education under AAP's tenure.
"Within 4.5 years, we have significantly improved the condition of Punjab schools. We have improved 19,200 schools out of 19,700. The other 500 are also a work in progress. They will also be improved within 2 years," he said.
Kejriwal dismissed negative coverage of Punjab's schools, alleging the BJP circulated an old video from 2018--during the Congress regime--and utilised AI-generated content to misrepresent the state's educational facilities.
"BJP is circulating a video from 2018 when schools were not in good condition. Congress was in power back then. BJP should know that they were in power till 2017. They were responsible for that condition," he said.
While reiterating that the Punjab government remains open to genuine criticism to fix real issues, he maintained that the collective efforts of local teachers, students, and principals deserve respect rather than political defamation.
"Punjab's people, teachers, principals, and children have improved these schools. Please don't try to defame these people. Don't try to defame our schools using old videos and AI-generated content," he said.
He said the Punjab government was willing to accept criticism of genuine shortcomings and work to address them.
"Our intent is pure. We want to improve. You highlight our real problems, and we will improve," Kejriwal said, reiterating his challenge to the BJP to join the proposed school inspection.
"The whole country will see this inspection," he added. (ANI)
"I'll give list of 1,000 schools": Arvind Kejriwal challenges BJP to joint inspection in Punjab, Gujarat
