Cockroach Janta Party Launches 'Adivasi School Thik Karo' Campaign to Improve Tribal Schools

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has announced the launch of the party's 'Adivasi School Thik Karo' campaign from Gadchiroli in Maharashtra on September 17. The campaign aims to draw the government's attention to the problems and discrimination faced by tribal students.

Addressing a press conference in Nagpur, Mr. Dipke said that schools in tribal regions across India have been neglected by all governments in the last 80 years. As part of the exercise, CJP representatives will visit tribal schools and inspect the facilities and infrastructure.

Tribal Students Face Government Apathy

Mr. Dipke alleged that tribal students face government apathy and that almost all governments have ignored them. He said that political parties build their party headquarters in every district by spending crores of rupees, but they don't have funds to give to tribal residential schools that are mostly operated from rented properties.

He called for focusing on students and schools in tribal belts, saying they have a lot of potential. The government will have to prioritise the tribal community as it has a very big population, he said.

Concerns Over Eklavya Modern Residential Schools

Mr. Dipke raised concerns over Eklavya Modern residential schools and alleged that 477 out of the 720 of these schools are non-functional. He asked where these tribal students will go to study.

Tribal students only have a 22.8% enrolment rate in higher education, he said, adding that just 130 Scheduled Tribe (ST) applicants got admission in IITs. He alleged that this is nothing else but outright discrimination.

Symbolic Act of Opposition

Mr. Dipke on Wednesday tore up a copy of an MoU between the Maharashtra Tribal Development Department and the Late Lakshman Mankar Trust in connection with tribal hostels in a symbolic act of opposition.

He was informed about the MoU during an interaction with tribal students. Supporting the demand for the cancellation of the MoU, he tore up a copy of the agreement.

According to Mr. Dipke, more than 590 tribal students died in Maharashtra in the last two years. Many tribal students die of snakebites, but these deaths fail to elicit any response from the government.

He also raised concerns over the deaths of tribal students in other states, including Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

The families of deceased tribal students do not even get honourable compensation, according to him. In Rajasthan, the families of deceased tribal students were given goats, while in Madhya Pradesh, ₹4 lakh were given.

Mr. Dipke's comments come as the CJP launches its nationwide campaign to improve the condition of rural and urban public schools.