Maharashtra Minister Gulabrao Patil urges Marathi-medium teachers to 'poach' students from English schools to boost enrollments. X/ Gulabrao PatilMaharashtra Minister and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader Gulabrao Patil on Saturday said Marathi teachers should poach students from English-medium schools to increase their strength. The BJP on Sunday described his comment as inappropriate.“Just as the BJP poaches our people — moving them from one party to another — teachers should also poach children from English-medium schools and bring them into Marathi schools,” the Minister said at a Teacher’s Day event in Jalgaon, while urging Marathi medium teachers to boost their enrollment.Pointing out that the primary challenge facing teachers today was maintaining and increasing student strength in government-run Marathi-medium schools, the Minister said, “Times have changed, and parents are increasingly leaning toward English-medium schools. Every parent wants their child to learn English, and fathers today are willing to do whatever it takes to educate their child… I have heard that enrollment in Marathi-medium schools in Jalgaon is going up. Just as the BJP poaches our leaders from one party to another, teachers should poach children from English-medium schools and bring them to Marathi-medium ones… The BJP takes anyone in its fold.”Highlighting the role of family planning, the Minister said, “Maintaining student strength is a major challenge, and family planning plays a big role in this. Earlier, families had three or four brothers, so enrollment remained high. Now it’s ‘We two, our two… and send them to English medium.’ That has become the trend.”The Minister also outlined a dress code for teachers. “Just as parents have changed, teachers must adapt too. As I mention in every speech, every teacher in a school must follow a dress code. Wear jeans or t-shirts outside, but inside the school, there must be a dress code so anyone can instantly recognise you as a teacher.”Describing the Minister’s comment as inappropriate, BJP state spokesperson Ram Kulkarni said, “The BJP never poaches workers. We win people’s hearts through our work and workers join us voluntarily after placing their faith in our leadership and ideology. Teachers do not ‘poach’ students; they instill values in them to build good citizens. Making political remarks from a platform meant for teachers is inappropriate.”Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “There is no need to take Gulabrao Patil’s comments seriously. When power changes hands, Patil will be the first person to change party.”Story continues below this adNCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule said, “The Chief Minister should rein in his MLAs and Ministers… We don’t play such type of politics…”