‘New Parliament, new PM house, why not govt schools in villages?’ CJP’s Dipke announces nationwide campaign | India News
NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has announced a nationwide campaign to improve government schools in villages, seeking to address the “neglect of rural educational infrastructure”.The campaign will be launched on August 15, with the CJP calling on citizens, parents and village leaders to work together to improve basic facilities in government schools.Dipke said he would launch the initiative from his village in Hingoli, Maharashtra, by approaching the village head and requesting him to take steps to improve government schools there.“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 on Monday.“We have made a new Parliament, a new PM house. Why have we not been able to build new schools in our villages? Do we not consider the children of farmers and labourers the future of our country?” he asked.Dipke said children in villages continue to face difficulties in accessing schools and basic facilities such as drinking water and toilets.“Even today, village children have to walk a long distance to go to school. After going there, they don’t find water or toilet facilities,” he said, highlighting the difficulties faced by girls in particular.“I feel that on this 15th August, if we should pay attention to anything, if we should make a new start, we should start by improving our government schools,” he said.The ‘Sarpanch Challenge’As part of the campaign, the CJP has appealed to sarpanches across the country to take up the task of improving government schools in their respective villages.Dipke said he would personally approach the village head in Hingoli and urged other sarpanches to do the same in their villages.The organisation has termed the initiative the “Sarpanch Challenge”, under which it plans to 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.The CJP has also called for a citizen-led social audit of government schools.Parents whose children study in government schools have been asked to visit the institutions and check basic facilities, including electricity, clean drinking water, functional washrooms and mid-day meals.“You go to your children’s schools and see if basic facilities are available. See if there is electricity, water… Do your children get washroom facilities? Do they get mid-day meals?” Dipke said.He urged parents to record videos if basic facilities were unavailable. The CJP said it would soon issue a printable audit form through which citizens could record the facilities available at their children’s schools and those that were missing.The form will be shared through links on campaign videos on the CJP’s official social media platforms and completed forms and video evidence can be emailed to the organisation.The campaign aims to ensure that children of farmers and wage labourers studying in village schools have access to facilities comparable to 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 said, concluding his video with the message, “Real India lives in villages”.CJP backs Jharkhand protestsIn a separate video, Dipke also extended his support to Jharkhand student leader Devendra Nath Mahto, who was hospitalised after his health deteriorated during a hunger strike over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations.Calling the alleged police action against protesters “cruel and inhuman”, Dipke drew a parallel with student protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. “Be it Jantar Mantar or Jharkhand, such police brutality against students is cruel and inhuman,” he said.“CJP stands firmly with Devendra bhai and his struggle. He is a true hero. We salute his courage and strength!” he added.Mahto has been at the centre of the ongoing JPSC-JSSC agitation in Ranchi over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations. He had been on an indefinite hunger strike and joined the students’ Vidhan Sabha gherao march on Monday, arriving at the protest in an ambulance as his health deteriorated.
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The CJP, which began as an online satirical platform, later took its campaign to the streets. Its 36-day agitation at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar against examination irregularities was called off on July 25 following the resignation of then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
