Cockroach Janta Party announces nationwide campaign to improve village schools
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Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke on Monday announced a nationwide campaign to improve government schools in villages, urging parents to conduct social audits of basic facilities and sarpanches to take responsibility for upgrading schools.
The campaign will begin on August 15, India's Independence Day.
Dipke said he would launch the initiative from his village in Hingoli, Maharashtra, by approaching the village head to seek improvements to local government schools.
Dipke said government schools in villages had been neglected for decades and questioned why resources had been allocated for new government buildings while basic school infrastructure remained inadequate.
He said children in villages still face difficulties accessing schools and may lack drinking water, electricity, functional toilets and mid-day meals. He particularly pointed to the difficulties faced by girls when schools do not have adequate washroom facilities.
The campaign includes a "Sarpanch Challenge", under which the organisation will publicly recognise village heads who improve government schools. Before-and-after photographs of upgraded schools will be shared on the CJP's social media platforms, with credit given to the sarpanches.
The organisation has also asked parents to visit government schools attended by their children and check basic facilities. It plans to release a printable social audit form that citizens can use to record available and missing facilities. Parents will also be encouraged to submit videos documenting deficiencies.
The CJP said completed forms and video evidence could be submitted through the contact details provided on its campaign materials.
The organisation said its objective was to help ensure children of farmers and wage labourers in villages receive school facilities comparable to those available in cities.
The CJP began as an online satirical platform before organising street-level campaigns. Its 36-day protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar against examination irregularities ended on July 25 following the resignation of then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The organisation recently decided to continue as a youth movement rather than enter electoral politics and announced a nationwide outreach campaign called "Kya Bolti Public?"