Abhijeet Dipke tears up MoU over tribal hostels, launches ‘Adivasi School Thik Karo’ campaign

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Wednesday tore up a copy of an MoU between the Maharashtra Tribal Development Department and the Late Lakshman Mankar Trust in connection with tribal hostels in a symbolic act of opposition. Dipke announced the launch of his group's 'Adivasi School Thik Karo' (improve the condition of schools for tribal children) campaign from Gadchiroli in Maharashtra from September 17.

Later, during an interaction with tribal students, he was informed about the Memorandum of Understanding between the Tribal Development Department and Late Lakshman Mankar Trust. Supporting the demand for the cancellation of the MoU, he tore up a copy of the agreement. The tribal rights group Adivasi Adhikar Bachhav Kriti Samiti had earlier this month alleged that the Maharashtra government had handed over the operations of nearly 490 tribal hostels to a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-linked trust.

Also read CJP claims ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign wins in Rajasthan, UP, Maharashtra, Haryana

A senior official from the Tribal Development Department had termed the allegations "totally baseless", stressing that no such handover of the hostels can take place. The MoU had been signed with the trust a year ago for facilitating personality development of students, he had said.