Daijiworld Media Network - Gadchiroli
Gadchiroli, Sep 16: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) will launch a campaign focused on improving facilities at tribal schools in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district on September 17, party founder Abhijeet Dipke said on Wednesday.
The initiative, titled "Adivasi School Thik Karo", will focus on issues faced by students in tribal areas, including inadequate infrastructure and limited access to educational facilities.
Speaking at a press conference, Dipke alleged that tribal schools had been neglected by successive governments and said CJP representatives would visit schools to assess their infrastructure and facilities.
"Schools in tribal regions across India have been neglected by all governments in the last 80 years," Dipke said while announcing the campaign from Gadchiroli.
CJP representatives will inspect tribal schools and highlight issues affecting students. Dipke raised concerns over schools functioning from rented buildings, inadequate facilities and the lack of attention to students in tribal areas.
Dipke also alleged that more than 590 tribal students had died in Maharashtra over the last two years. He claimed that some deaths were linked to incidents such as snakebites and alleged that families of deceased students did not always receive adequate compensation.
He further raised concerns about Eklavya Model Residential Schools, claiming that 477 of the 720 schools were non-functional. The figures were presented by Dipke at the press conference.
Dipke also cited concerns over the participation of tribal students in higher education. He claimed that Scheduled Tribe students accounted for 22.8 per cent of enrolment in higher education and that only 130 ST applicants had secured admission to IITs.
The new initiative comes about a month after the CJP launched its nationwide "School Thik Karo" campaign aimed at improving government schools in rural and urban areas.
As part of that campaign, Dipke had urged parents, sarpanches and local communities to take responsibility for improving basic school facilities. The campaign began with a visit to a government school in his native village of Santuk Pimpri in Maharashtra's Hingoli district.
The CJP had also sought information from state education ministers regarding school repairs, teacher vacancies, government funding, digital learning facilities, toilets and sports infrastructure.
In an earlier letter, Dipke said government schools continued to face shortages of basic facilities such as safe drinking water, functional washrooms, proper classrooms and benches.
The Gadchiroli campaign will focus specifically on tribal schools and students. Dipke is also scheduled to interact with tribal students in Nagpur on Wednesday.
The claims regarding student deaths, non-functional schools and higher education enrolment were made by Dipke and have not been independently verified in the information available.