The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has shifted its focus to tribal areas by launching Adivasi School Thik Karo campaign, to fix schools in tribal region.
A month after launching the 'School Thik Karo' campaign aimed at improving infrastructure and facilities in government schools across the country, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is shifting its focus to tribal areas through the 'Adivasi School Thik Karo' movement, which will take off on 17 September, in an attempt to draw the government’s attention towards the problems and discrimination faced by tribal students. This time, the focus will be on schools in tribal regions, but the modus operandi will remain the same—CJP representatives, volunteers, and citizens will visit public educational institutions to inspect the availability of basic amenities such as classrooms, benches, washrooms, drinking water, etc., and urge the authorities concerned to fix lapses wherever they are found. This strategy has made a positive impact over the last month, if visual evidence of school administrations taking corrective measures, including repair works, is anything to go by. The same is expected in phase II of the campaign. What remains to be seen is the extent of its reach. The CJP's earlier calls for protest were met with a lukewarm response in Northeast India, perhaps due to a lack of awareness and coordination. This time, it should stir the hornet’s nest in the region, which is a major tribal belt with more than 200 indigenous communities. The region has a high literacy rate, with five of its states ranking among the top 10 most literate in the country, but this can be attributed to private schools. This highlights the need for a movement to expose the issues ailing government schools in the region. The 'Adivasi School Thik Karo' campaign can fill this gap.
The CJP's campaign must not be taken as anti-establishment or an attack on the ruling parties. Rather, it must be seen as an aid to further the Government of India's long-standing policy and effort towards providing universal access to quality education for all its citizens. Most of these institutions, both the successes and the failures, are the making of successive governments. What has been neglected for decades cannot be set right overnight, but change has to start somewhere, at some point, and by someone. The sooner the cracks are fixed, the better. Any initiative that helps the people, especially the marginalised, should be welcomed, and the CJP's campaign must be taken in this spirit. From shouldering the task of holding the ruling dispensation accountable for examination irregularities, which ultimately forced Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to step down, to the School Thik Karo campaign, the Gen Z-led satirical online movement has come a long way. One thing that has stood out in this groundbreaking journey is the overwhelming public participation and support, which is lacking in the Northeast so far. But to ensure basic facilities and infrastructure necessary for quality education are in place, people must shed their indifference and report the cracks in the wall, broken benches, and unhygienic toilets. Apathy will fix nothing.