Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday, 10 July accused the Karnataka government of driving thousands of state-run schools to the brink of closure, citing a steady decline in student enrolment under the Congress administration. Joshi, who holds charge of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, made the allegations in a statement issued from New Delhi, calling the trend evidence of 'administrative bankruptcy.'

The Enrolment Numbers

Citing the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report, Joshi presented a three-year decline in government school enrolment across Karnataka. Enrolment stood at 1,19,26,303 in the 2023-24 academic year, slipping to 1,17,80,251 in 2024-25 — a drop of 1,46,052 students. In 2025-26, the figure fell further by 66,037 to 1,17,14,214. In total, Joshi alleged, nearly 2.12 lakh students have exited the government school system over three years.

What Joshi Alleged

'The Congress government has displayed administrative bankruptcy by bringing thousands of government schools, which have long served as a lifeline for poor and middle-class children, to the verge of closure,' Joshi said. He further alleged that the ruling party had remained preoccupied with 'internal power struggles instead of governance,' leaving the education sector to deteriorate. 'Instead of improving government schools, the Congress government has pushed them towards closure. This is its biggest achievement,' he alleged.

Infrastructure and the Drug Concern

Beyond enrolment figures, Joshi claimed that government schools across Karnataka suffer from inadequate basic infrastructure, compounding the crisis. He also raised a separate but related concern, alleging that Karnataka was simultaneously emerging as a 'drug hub.' 'The younger generation is being led astray and is increasingly falling prey to drug networks and anti-social activities. Instead of protecting students and society, the government is engrossed in internal conflicts, power struggles and the pursuit of political office,' he alleged.

Political Context

The allegations come amid an ongoing political standoff between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre and the Congress-led Karnataka state government. The Congress party has not yet issued a formal response to Joshi's specific claims. Notably, declining government school enrolment is a national trend linked to multiple factors, including the expansion of low-cost private schools — a context Joshi did not address in his statement. The UDISE+ data Joshi cited is a government-maintained database and its figures are publicly verifiable, though the attribution of the decline solely to state government policy is Joshi's own characterisation.

What Comes Next

With the Karnataka assembly session approaching and the Congress government already under pressure over multiple governance issues, the BJP is expected to intensify scrutiny of the state's education record. Whether the state government presents counter-data or a policy response to the enrolment decline will be closely watched.