CJP launches nationwide campaign to improve village schools, asks parents to act

The Cockroach Janta Party will launch a nationwide village school campaign on August 15, asking sarpanches and parents to inspect basic facilities. The drive puts rural school infrastructure under public scrutiny through social audits and public recognition for improvements.

In Short

• Dipke will start the initiative from Hingoli in Maharashtra himself
• Parents have been asked to check water, power, toilets and meals
• Missing facilities should be recorded on video and emailed to CJP

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Monday announced a nationwide campaign to improve government schools in villages, calling on parents to conduct social audits of basic facilities and sarpanches to take responsibility for improving schools in their villages.

The campaign will be launched on August 15, with the CJP urging citizens, parents and village leaders to work together to address what it described as the “neglect of rural educational infrastructure”.

In a video message, Dipke said he would begin the initiative from his village, Hingoli in Maharashtra, by approaching the village head and requesting that government schools there be improved.

“The coming 15th August is our 80th Independence Day. But, if anything has been neglected or ignored the most in the last 80 years, it is the government schools in our villages,” Dipke said.

WHY VILLAGE SCHOOLS ARE IN FOCUS

Dipke questioned why India had built a new Parliament and a new Prime Minister’s residence but had not been able to build better schools in villages.

“Do we not consider the children of farmers and labourers the future of our country?” he asked.

He said children in villages still have to walk long distances to attend school and often find basic facilities such as drinking water and toilets unavailable. He particularly highlighted the difficulties faced by girls because of the lack of washroom facilities.

Dipke said that if India wanted to make a fresh start on August 15, improving government schools should be one of its priorities.

THE ‘SARPANCH CHALLENGE’

As part of the campaign, the CJP has appealed to sarpanches across the country to improve government schools in their respective villages.

Dipke said he would personally approach the village head in Hingoli and urged other sarpanches to take up the initiative.

The organisation has called this the “Sarpanch Challenge”. Under the campaign, the CJP will publicly recognise village heads who improve their schools by sharing before-and-after photographs on its social media platforms and giving credit to the sarpanches concerned.

“We will give you credit so that after seeing you, after seeing the schools that you have improved, many other village heads also start improving schools in their villages,” Dipke said.

PARENTS TO BECOME SCHOOL AUDITORS

The CJP has also announced a citizen-led social audit of government schools.

Parents whose children study in government schools have been asked to visit the institutions and check whether electricity, clean drinking water, functional washrooms and mid-day meals are available.

Dipke urged parents to record videos if basic facilities are missing.

The CJP said it will soon issue a printable audit form through which citizens can record facilities that are available and those that are missing. The form will be shared through a link on campaign videos posted on the CJP’s official social media platforms.

Completed forms and video evidence can be emailed to contact@cockroachjantaparty.org.

‘REAL INDIA LIVES IN VILLAGES’

The campaign aims to ensure that children of farmers and wage labourers studying in village schools have access to facilities comparable with those available to children in cities.

“If not, you make videos of it. Because your children’s schooling should be good. That is your fundamental right,” Dipke said.

“Let us all make a promise to the children who live in villages that we will improve their schools. Together, we can do this,” he added, ending the video with the message, “Real India lives in villages."

FROM SATIRE TO A YOUTH MOVEMENT

The CJP began as an online satirical platform before taking its campaign to the streets. Its 36-day agitation at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against examination irregularities was called off on July 25 following the resignation of then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Amid speculation about its future course, the CJP held a two-day strategy meeting at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra earlier this month. It decided to continue as a youth movement rather than enter electoral politics.

The organisation also announced a “Kya Bolti Public?” campaign for nationwide outreach. Dipke had earlier urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use his Independence Day address to speak to the country’s youth.

(With PTI inputs)

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