Nagpur: Abhijit Deepke, the founder of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), has openly challenged governments over the dilapidated condition of tribal schools and the chronic administrative apathy that has left them unattended for decades.
Speaking to journalists in Nagpur, Deepke warned that tribal education has been systematically ignored, resulting in unsafe infrastructure, missing basic facilities, and a severe violation of students’ rights.
He announced that the CJP will kick off a new “Fix Tribal Schools” campaign on 17 September, starting from the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. The initiative aims to shine a spotlight on the educational entitlements of tribal children, the shortage of essential amenities, and the bureaucratic hurdles they confront.
As part of the drive, CJP volunteers will travel to schools in predominantly tribal regions to document the on‑ground reality of classrooms, dormitories, sanitation, and learning resources. This follows a previous “Fix Schools” effort that targeted the broader public‑school network.
Deepke criticised political parties for allocating massive sums to build party offices while simultaneously claiming that there is insufficient budget for tribal residential schools.
He also questioned the narrative of nationwide economic progress, insisting that any genuine development must reach tribal communities. According to Deepke, more than 590 tribal students have died in Maharashtra over the past two years—some from preventable causes such as snakebites—and over 30 children have perished in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh, in the last two months.
The CJP leader further accused state governments of offering paltry compensation to grieving families, arguing that dignity and adequate financial support are being denied.
Out of the 720 Eklavya Model Residential Schools sanctioned across India, Deepke highlighted that 477 remain closed, depriving thousands of tribal children of quality education. He also raised concerns about the low enrollment of tribal students in higher‑education institutions and the limited admission of Scheduled Tribe candidates to premier colleges such as the IITs.
Deepke called for a thorough investigation into the structural barriers that keep tribal students and teachers under‑represented, urging the government to adopt concrete, accountable measures to rectify the systemic inequities.
