The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday walked out of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council) on the first day of the Monsoon Session, protesting the state government’s policy of merging schools. SP leaders accused the ruling party of dismantling public education and intentionally targeting children from marginalized communities.
Leading the charge were SP MLCs Mukul Yadav, Ashutosh Sinha, Balram Yadav, Rajendra Chaudhary, Jasmeer Ansari, and Leader of the Opposition in the Vidhan Parishad, Lal Bihari Yadav. Lal Bihari Yadav alleged that the government’s policies were a conspiracy to keep children of Dalits, backward classes, and minorities away from education.
“The level of education in the BJP regime is deteriorating day by day,” Lal Bihari Yadav claimed. “The government is planning to hand over education into private hands. The government should not look at education as a business. Instead of closing schools, the government should focus on increasing the number of students.” He also raised concerns about unnecessary audits and investigations into madrasas, which he stated were built with donations from the Muslim community.
In response, Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh defended the school merger policy, stating it was a measure to improve the quality of education and promote classroom learning. He countered the SP’s allegations by highlighting the condition of the state’s education system before 2017, claiming that approximately three crore children were not receiving an education during the previous SP regime.
Singh added that the school merger would also help increase grant money from the Central government, which is allocated based on student numbers. However, the SP MLCs interrupted his reply and proceeded with their walkout.
The session also saw other issues raised by the SP. MLC Man Singh Yadav brought up the matter of the old pension scheme, questioning why it was not implemented for legislators and the judiciary if the new scheme was superior. Another SP MLC, Ashutosh Sinha, called for government employees to be given the choice between the old and new pension schemes.
Amidst the political sparring, a moment of bipartisan pride was noted as BJP MLCs Jai Pal Singh ‘Vyastha’ and Anoop Kumar Gupta extended their congratulations to Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force for becoming the first Indian to ever reach the International Space Station (ISS).