India 'Cockroach' movement takes aim at government schools

The student protest movement in India known as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) scored a major victory in July after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stepped down following weeks of demonstrations in Delhi.

Now, the movement is aiming its campaign for accountability at improving India's government schools.

Last week on India's Independence Day, the CJP launched a nationwide campaign asking citizens to inspect government schools, document what is missing and pressure local authorities to fix basic facilities.

Dubbed "Fix the Schools," the campaign aims to mobilize citizens to identify problems locally and make them public.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke launched a campaign in the Indian state of Maharashtra from his native village in Hingoli district. He spoke with students and documented what he said were broken windows, lack of clean drinking water, missing classroom benches and unusable bathrooms.

"No matter which political party ruled, nobody worked for government schools in states. Now there is a need, and we can make them work by asking questions," said Dipke.

Government officials did not respond to DW's requests for comment on the CJP's accusations.

The CJP has prepared assessment forms that parents, students and residents can use to document issues with local government schools. They are being asked to record video evidence, complete the assessment and send the material to CJP.