Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav reacted to a school refusing a fee waiver for a Class 7 girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, who appealed to chief minister Yogi Adityanath for financial support for her education and got a fee waiver assurance, saying that it was the ‘truth of BJP’s fake slogans’.
Pankhuri Tripathi’s family suffered a major financial setback due to her father, Rajiv Kumar Tripathi, losing his job after he sustained a critical leg injury in an accident. The family sought help from CM Yogi during a janta darbar on July 1 and got an assurance that her education and the dream to become an IAS officer wouldn’t face obstacles.
But the happiness was short-lived. The management of Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Gorakhpur’s Pakkibag told her that a waiver wasn’t possible as ‘there was no such provision’, according to an NDTV report.
What is more interesting is that the school is run by Vidya Bharati, the education wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological fountainhead of Yogi’s BJP. The school charges Class 7 students a monthly fee of ₹1,650. Pankhuri has dues of about ₹18,000.
“I had gone to the chief minister with a fee waiver request. He gave me a chocolate and assured me that it would be done. But when I went to school with my father, they misbehaved with us. We were told that the fee couldn’t be waived. They said that if more parents sought a fee waiver, the school wouldn’t be able to function. They said they have to pay teachers,” NDTV quoted the Class 7 student as saying.
Pankhuri also revealed that her father broke down when he was misbehaved with. But she affirmed her trust in the CM, saying that he wouldn’t let her dream shatter.
“My father broke down. No one had ever spoken to him like this. But I trust that the Chief Minister will not let my dream shatter. I will work hard and become an IAS officer,” Pankhuri said.
Gorakhpur is CM Yogi Adityanath’s stronghold. The city elected him an MP for five terms before he took over the state. Adityanath is also the head priest of the Gorakhnath Math, one of the most prominent religious sites in the region.
Political storm over fee waiver
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, took a swipe at the ruling BJP over Pankhuri’s remarks, saying that the party shouldn’t ‘lie to children.
“We promise that her education won’t stop. This is the truth of the BJP’s fake slogans of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’. We urge the BJP not to lie to children,” Yadav said in a post on social media platform X.
The student’s father, Rajiv Kumar Tripathi, acknowledged Akhilesh Yadav’s X post but said that he believes Yogi Adityanath would ensure his daughter’s education.
“He has tweeted. But we are associated with the Math and Maharaj ji (referring to Yogi Adityanath) and we believe he would ensure my daughter’s education,” he said.
