'Determined to destroy education': AAP MP Sanjay Singh accuses UP government of prioritising alcohol; launches campaign over school closures

Time of India

2 days ago

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh
Aam Aadmi Party's Uttar Pradesh in-charge and Rajya Sabha MP
Sanjay Singh
on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Yogi Adityanath-led government over the state's educational infrastructure.
He said it was shameful that in a state where millions of children study in government schools, thousands of these schools have either been shut down or are operating in unsafe and crumbling buildings, while liquor shops are rapidly increasing. "Yogi government is snatching books from children and handing them liquor bottles," said Sanjay.
Citing official data, Singh said there are 1.93 lakh vacant teaching positions at the primary level in Uttar Pradesh.
Additionally, 3,872 posts are unfilled in secondary education and 8,714 in senior secondary education. He said that even though the government acknowledges nearly two lakh vacant teacher posts, no serious recruitment plan has been announced. "Why is the Yogi government silent on over 2 lakh teacher vacancies?" he asked.
In several districts, entire primary schools are being managed by just one teacher. In Prayagraj alone, 633 schools have been declared dangerous due to their poor structural condition.
Singh alleged that the Yogi government has already shut down over 27,000 government schools and is preparing to close 5,000 more, citing low student attendance. He said this drop in enrollment is due to the government's failure to provide adequate teachers and basic infrastructure, pushing schools into decline.
He criticised what he called the 'double engine government,' pointing out that while schools are being shut down, 27,308 liquor shops have been opened in the state, even though the government claims the treasury is empty.
'The government cares more about liquor outlets than education,' he said, adding that Uttar Pradesh spends only ₹9,167 per student annually on education, well below the national average of Rs 12,768.
Singh claimed that the Yogi government does not want children of the poor, Dalits, backward classes, or farmers to receive an education and progress in life. He said schools are either being merged or left to decay.
'We will go village to village and tell people that the Yogi government is taking away books from children and giving them liquor bottles instead,' said Singh.
'Our campaign with the slogan 'We want schools, not liquor shops' will continue until every child in the state has access to a teacher, a school, and the right to education.'
He warned that if the government does not begin recruiting teachers, repair dilapidated schools, and reopen the ones that were shut down, the Aam Aadmi Party will raise this issue strongly, from the streets to the Parliament, and expose the government at every level.