'PM Should Show He Actually Cares': Dipke Seeks PM CARES Funds For Rural Schools

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke urged the Centre to use PM CARES Fund money for rural school development and build over 1,000 high-tech model schools. Under the ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign, he highlighted poor infrastructure in rural schools and questioned why funds were not being used for improving children’s education facilities.

'PM Should Show He Actually Cares': Dipke Seeks PM CARES Funds For Rural Schools | File Pic

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Wednesday urged the Centre to use money from the PM CARES Fund to improve rural school infrastructure and build more than 1,000 high-tech model schools.

Dipke, the CJP’s national convenor, has launched the ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign to highlight infrastructure gaps in rural schools. He claimed children across the country were struggling with poor access roads and a lack of basic facilities such as benches and drinking water.

Use PM Cares Fund for schools! pic.twitter.com/wjqfxgf1ha

— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) August 19, 2026

The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund had a total balance of ₹8,452 crore as of Mar 31, 2025, up from ₹7,173 crore a year earlier, according to its latest audit report. Payments during 2024-25 stood at ₹87.85 lakh, compared with ₹15.6 crore in the previous financial year.

Dipke questions use of PM CARES funds

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In a video statement on X, Dipke said, "On one hand, Rs 8,500 crore is lying unused and on the other hand we see that the children of this country are crying for a good road to school, for good benches in school and for drinking water in school. So, why are we not using this money for the schools of these children?"

Arguing that the available funds could help create new school infrastructure, he said, "Why is this money not being used to build new schools? If we assume that the cost of building a school is approximately Rs 8 crore, a good school with all the facilities, a model school… So, if one school costs Rs 8 crore, then in Rs 8,500 crore, more than 1,000 new high-tech model schools could be built."

"But this is not happening," he added.

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Rural school visits highlight poor facilities

Dipke said schools he recently visited in rural Maharashtra were in "very bad" condition.

"When I asked the authorities why there were no basic facilities here, I was told that there was a shortage of funds," he said.

He further said, "So on one hand, it is being said that there are no funds and on the other hand Rs 8,500 crore is lying in the PM CARES Fund. So, should this money not be used for the schools?"

Dipke appealed to people to urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use the fund for children’s education.

"So, request the PM to please use the PM CARES Fund for the people, for education, and for the schools of the poor kids. And the PM should show that he actually cares," he said.

In another X post, Dipke shared pictures of a dirty toilet and a run-down school building, writing, "PM CARES Fund can be put to good use," he said.

₹7,846 crore parked in fixed deposits

Of the PM CARES Fund’s ₹8,452 crore balance, ₹7,846 crore was held in fixed deposits and ₹605 crore in savings bank accounts, according to the audit report.

The fund spent ₹87.8 lakh on the PM CARES for Children Scheme, which supports children who lost both parents, a legal guardian or adoptive parents to the Covid-19 pandemic. The expenditure was sharply lower than the ₹15.37 crore spent in the previous year.

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