Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Kewal Singh Dhillon on Wednesday, 12 August demanded that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab immediately release ₹574 crore in outstanding dues owed to the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), whose employees have taken to the streets in protest. Dhillon accused the state government of financial mismanagement and of hollowing out the education sector while projecting an image of reform.

The Core Allegation

According to Dhillon, the AAP government has been loading the financial cost of its free education schemes onto the PSEB while simultaneously withholding hundreds of crores in dues owed to the board from various state departments — covering students' fees, books, examination fees, and other heads. The total outstanding amount, he said, stands at approximately ₹574 crore.

'The board employees are being forced to take to the streets for their pending dues, salaries and other financial rights, while the state government continued to make tall claims about an 'education revolution' through advertisements,' Dhillon said.

Vacancies and Falling Enrolment

The BJP leader cited a wider pattern of deterioration in Punjab's government school system. He stated that more than 31,000 teacher posts remain vacant in government schools across the state, while student enrolment has declined by nearly six lakh over the past few years — even as the AAP government has continued to publicly promote what it calls an 'education revolution.'

'Education revolution in advertisements, but vacant posts, declining enrolment and employee protests on the ground — this is the real picture of the AAP government's education system,' Dhillon said.

What the BJP Says the Government Owes

Dhillon elaborated that the PSEB is owed funds from multiple government departments across several heads. The failure to release these amounts, he argued, is progressively weakening the board's financial position and making it impossible for it to meet its own employee obligations. He said the situation raises serious questions about the state government's fiscal priorities in the education sector.

Political Context

The attack comes as the AAP government in Punjab, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has repeatedly cited education reform as a flagship achievement — drawing comparisons to the AAP model in Delhi. Critics, including the BJP and the Congress, have increasingly challenged those claims at the ground level. The PSEB employee protest gives the opposition a concrete, visible flashpoint to contest the government's education narrative ahead of future electoral cycles.

The AAP government had not issued a formal response to Dhillon's statement at the time of reporting. The coming weeks will test whether the state moves to clear the dues or allows the standoff with PSEB employees to escalate further.