“Shocked to hear that govt school children in Sivaganga were used in manual labour for preparing for an event to be attended by TN sports minister and son of chief minister,” BJP National Secretary and Tamil Nadu in-charge Aravind Menon wrote on X.
“I ask the School education minister to introspect if the people of Tamil Nadu, especially the underprivileged, send their children to school to do manual labour for events conducted by you, or to study and become successful, and break the chain of poverty and social inequality?” he said.
“Is this your Dravida Model, where students are made to clean toilets, level grounds, and carry heavy poles?” he asked.
The national secretary asked what happens to the funds allocated, when involving students in such administrative work.
“If you can’t curb these violations within the school education ministry, why do you hold such a crucial ministerial position? Shame!,” he wrote.
Earlier in the day, the Tamil Nadu BJP unit condemned the treatment of Tamil Nadu government school students like “servants by you sitting in the position as a bandh while the school education department of Tamil Nadu is heading towards the underworld due to many administrative malpractices”.
Is it social justice that you fear is making Tamil Nadu government school students clean school toilets and involve them in organizing government events?, BJP TN unit asked in its post on X.
The response from the BJP came days after CM Stalin, who is on a US trip, hailed the ‘Dravidian model’ and exuded confidence that the DMK government is performing at the highest level on all fronts.