Cockroach Janta Party Announces Nationwide Campaign to Improve Government Schools in Rural India
New Delhi: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has announced a nationwide campaign to improve government schools in rural India, urging parents, citizens and village leaders to take greater responsibility for basic educational facilities. Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said the campaign will begin on August 15, India’s 80th Independence Day. He said the initiative will focus on addressing what the organisation describes as the neglect of basic infrastructure in village schools.
Dipke said he would launch the campaign from his village in Hingoli, Maharashtra, by approaching the local sarpanch and asking the village leadership to improve government schools.
“If anything has been neglected or ignored the most in the last 80 years, it is the government schools in our villages,” Dipke said in a video message.
He questioned why India has been able to build major national infrastructure projects while many rural schools continue to lack basic facilities.
CJP Calls on Sarpanches to Improve Schools
As part of the campaign, the CJP has appealed to sarpanches across India to take up the responsibility of improving government schools in their villages.
The organisation has named the initiative the “Sarpanch Challenge”. Under the campaign, the CJP plans to publicly recognise village heads who improve their schools by sharing before-and-after photographs on its social media platforms.
Dipke said the aim is to encourage other village leaders to follow successful examples.
The campaign comes as the CJP seeks to expand its activities beyond its recent student protests and take its movement to grassroots issues, including education and public services. Recent reports have said the organisation plans to continue as a youth movement rather than immediately entering electoral politics.
Parents Asked to Conduct Social Audits
The CJP has also called for a citizen-led social audit of government schools.
Parents whose children attend government schools will be encouraged to visit the institutions and check whether essential facilities are available, including:
- Electricity
- Clean drinking water
- Functional toilets and washrooms
- Mid-day meals
- Other basic school facilities
Dipke urged parents to document shortcomings through photographs and videos where facilities are missing.
The organisation said it plans to release a printable school audit form that citizens can use to record the facilities available at their local government schools.
According to the CJP, completed forms and supporting videos can then be submitted to the organisation through the contact details provided in its campaign material.
Focus on Children in Rural Areas
Dipke said children from farming and working-class families should have access to school facilities comparable with those available to children in cities.
He particularly highlighted the difficulties faced by girls in rural areas when schools lack proper toilets and other essential facilities.
“Let us all make a promise to the children who live in villages that we will improve their schools. Together, we can do this,” Dipke said, ending his message with the phrase “Real India lives in villages.”
CJP’s Recent Political Background
The Cockroach Janta Party, which began as an online satirical platform, gained national attention through its student-led protests and later took its campaign to the streets.
Its 36-day agitation at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar ended on July 25 after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. The CJP subsequently indicated that it would continue as a youth movement rather than immediately entering electoral politics.
The organisation has also announced its “Kya Bolti Public?” campaign as part of a wider nationwide outreach programme.
The new government-school campaign marks a shift towards grassroots education issues, with the CJP seeking to involve parents and village leaders directly in identifying and addressing gaps in rural school infrastructure.
