Mumbai hostage incident: Rohit Aarrya had collected ₹4 cr from schools illegally

When this came to light, and the government asked him to furnish documents of the transactions, and return the ill-gotten booty, he stopped all communication

Rohit Aarrya, 50, who was shot dead by Mumbai police on Thursday for holding 17 students hostage at R A Studio, in Powai, to draw the state government’s attention to his claim of pending dues, first came into the limelight with Project Let’s Change, in Gujarat in 2013. He subsequently participated in the state’s Swachchta Abhiyan in 2014, and brought the concept to Maharashtra’s school education department in 2022-23, rebranding it as Swachata Monitor. The concept – to use schoolchildren to create awareness about cleanliness, especially by sensitising adults -- was adopted by the previous Eknath Shinde-led government’s Mukhyamantri Majhi Shala, Sundar Shala campaign.

Trouble began when Rohit Aarrya submitted a budget proposal showing costs for advertising, management and technical support, without supporting documents

Following Thursday’s trail of events, people in the know in the state education department said Aarrya had purportedly collected ₹4 crore from the around 80,000 schools as registration fees to participate in the programme, without government’s permission. When this came to light, and the government asked him to furnish documents of the transactions, and return the ill-gotten booty, he stopped all communication.

The play of events

Over a decade ago, Aarrya’s Let’s Change campaign in Gujarat was backed by then chief minister Narandra Modi. Following its success, the Gujarat government announced the Mahatma Gandhi Swachhta Mission in early 2014. Given its popularity, it was extended to Mission Swachh Bharat in 2014, according to information available on Aarrya’s swachhtamonitor.in.

After the split in Shiv Sena, when the Mahayuti government came to power in June 2022, Aarrya approached then school education minister Deepak Kesarkar for a cleanliness campaign in schools under the Let’s Change brand. It is believed, his success in Gujarat, opened doors for him to work with the school education department.

“Many people, including schoolkids, and organisations working in the education sector share their ideas and information about various initiatives. We encourage them, as we did Aarrya as his initiative was good,” said Kesarkar on Friday.

Aarrya’s Apsara Media Entertainment Network’s project Let’s Change, under the initiative of Swachhata Monitor, was first approved through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), evidenced by a government letter dated September, 27, 2022. It received a second approval from the government through a letter dated June 30, 2023 when ₹9,90,000 was paid to his organisation.

Eventually, the education department issued an official government order recognizing the project, and on July 10, 2023, the directorate of school education issued a letter to all deputy directors and education officers making them aware of Project Let’s Change (PLC) - Swachhata Monitor. HT has a copy of the letter, which also explained how the scheme would be implemented at the district and school levels.

Some of the salient features were organising a training programmes by coordinating with Aarrya, the project coordinator; schools being asked to submit pictures of activities carried out with the logo of PLC on social media platforms; and children sharing their experiences as participants of the project. As a form of encouragement, awards for 100 best schools and 300 best students were also announced.

After its success, the concept of Swachhata Monitor was included as a component in the Mukhyamantri Majhi Shala, Sundar Shala campaign, to make schoolchildren aware of cleanliness by creating swachhata doots (messengers). When the campaign was launched, Aarrya shared the stage with Shinde and Kesarkar. At the time, the state government made a budgetary provision of ₹2.41 crore to implement Swachhata Monitor.

Troubled waters

Trouble began when Aarrya submitted a budget proposal showing costs for advertising, management and technical support, without supporting documents, said an official from the education department. While the proposal was under consideration, the education commissioner’s office received complaints from some schools for being charged ₹499 each by Aarrya as registration fee for participating in Swachhata Monitor 2024-25.

“While investigating the first lot of complaints, we realised around 80,000 of a total of 1.10 lakh schools had registered for the initiative; which means, around ₹4 crore was collected which was unauthorised,” said an official. The project was then put on ice.

This led Aarrya to stage a hunger strike in July and August 2024, in Pune,

demanding his dues. When Kesarkar and other officials met him, he said he deserved to be compensated as Swachchata Monitor was his concept, through which he would train teachers and put videos regarding the drive on social media. An official who participated in the meeting said Aarrya was told that a government cannot allow the use of school students to take pictures and videos of people following unhygienic practices. “It can lead to conflict between the students and those being filmed throwing garbage or spitting in open spaces,” said the official. “We explained this to him and also questioned him about the money he had charged from schools without government permission. When asked to submit a budget proposal, he was reluctant to do so.”

On September 4, the department sent him an official letter to furnish details regarding the money collected from schools.

Aarrya responded saying, “Why should we give details of amount submitted by schools for our private initiative and through our private website.” In response, the deputy education director in a letter dated September 11, 2024, pressed Aarrya for “details of the money collected immediately”.

After this, he fell silent.

“He did not comply with the government’s demands. So, if the proposal was not submitted and therefore remained unapproved, how can the government release money on the basis of claims that it was his concept,” asked the official.