‘Education system had come to standstill’: Voices from Patparganj as it welcomes its MLA Sisodia’s Return

Shankar’s words echo the sentiments of several people living in different parts of East Delhi’s Patparganj area — the constituency of the senior AAP MLA.

Shankar says the arrest of Sisodia in 2023 affected the education system. “This is because their (the government’s) focus shifted. I know this because of my children… My son (a Class X student) studies in Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Vikas Marg. For the past six months, there has been no teacher to teach Business Studies and Accounts…”

He further shares that his daughter, a Class II student, who studies in Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in East Vinod Nagar, has to sit in an overcrowded classroom of 80 students. “My daughter tells me…’Papa, I don’t feel like going to the toilet in school’. It is that bad. Earlier, when Sisodia was not in jail, parents enjoyed more leeway but now even in parent-teacher meetings, they prevent us from taking a look inside the school… Earlier, it was not like this. There was a proper system where action used to be taken if parents complained…” he tells The Indian Express.

Around 5 km away, Sunita, 45, a tailor at Preet Vihar who hails from Mandawali, was overjoyed when she heard the news. “I have been living in Patparganj since 2002. Earlier, enough attention was not paid to schools. But after he (Sisodia) came, the teachers became more careful in teaching. My three children have studied in a government school in Mand-awali,” she says. “It is all politics, (CM Arvind) Kejriwal ji is also in jail in a false case. They have done only good for the area,” she adds.

Haroon Malik, 45, a resident of Mayur Vihar Phase 1, says, “My landlord and I are very happy to hear the news. My three children studied in two government schools here…” He says that the education system had come to a standstill with Sisodia being behind bars.

And then there were some for whom the arrest and the release made no difference. “It may be good news to many that Sisodia ji got jamanat (bail) but all of this is just politics and none of this has really helped us,” says a domestic worker as she rushes towards her home in Patparganj.