NEW DELHI: From colleges to schools. From Gen Z to Gen Alpha. From Jantar Mantar to cities and villages in states. The students’ protest has continued; only the stage has shifted. The Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) “School Thik Karo” campaign has put the spotlight on the sorry condition of government schools in many states. Gen Z showed the way from Jantar Mantar when they forced the NDA government to make Dharmendra Pradhan resign over NEET paper leaks. Gen Alpha took the cue and brought the protests to villages and towns across states, demanding better school infrastructure and government accountability.The CJP campaign asking for school audits in villages got a huge response. The pictures and videos of schools uploaded on CJP’s X timeline exposed the sorry state of government schools across states. This was followed by ground inspections by CJP teams, which led to confrontation and a strong pushback by some state governments.Two days after the CJP launched its campaign and announced that schools in Rajasthan would be on its radar, the state education department issued new guidelines regulating the entry of outsiders, including media personnel, into government schools.Under the directives, photography, videography, interviews, audio recording and live streaming involving students or school activities on campus needed prior permission from the school principal or head of the institution. The Rajasthan order went on to threaten action under applicable laws in case of any breach.So, when a CJP team went to inspect a government school on August 21, it was attacked and forcibly pushed back, allegedly by the locals. Videos of the incident showed a large number of people engaging in a heated exchange with the CJP team, pushing and shoving its members as they tried to enter the village. Some clips also showed stone-pelting and smashed windows of cars. Locals said the village did not need outside political groups to intervene in the school’s affairs.This perhaps became the July 20 Jantar Mantar moment (when Delhi Police used force to stop Gen Z protesters from their Sansad march) of the CJP school campaign as the violent confrontation propelled the issue to the national centre stage.
School students protest in UP
Meanwhile in Uttar Pradesh, Gen Alpha students of a government school staged a protest twice, in a span of four days. over shortage of subject teachers. They briefly blocked traffic also.Students of a government school in Kannauj boycotted classes and held protests against the principal for alleged caste discrimination and ordering the felling of trees inside the school campus.The students of PM Shri Composite School in Gugarapur surrounded the vehicle of the in-charge principal at the school gate as he was leaving and raised slogans against him.Protests also happened in Fatehpur, Hamirpur against lack of facilities in schools. In Hamirpur, ‘Gen Alpha’ children laid siege to the collectorate to demand the construction of a paved road to their school.In Unnao, hundreds of students of a government-run residential school staged a protest over alleged poor-quality food, inadequate drinking water, shortage of teachers and the behaviour of the principal, briefly disrupting traffic at a city crossing.
‘Ministers’ dogs got better facilities than students’
In Maharashtra, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke conducted a social audit of government-run and municipal schools in Latur district. He led a team at a Zilla Parishad school at Ujani village in Latur’s Ausa tehsil.After his audit, Dipke said schools in the state were in a pitiable condition, and even “ministers’ dogs got better facilities” than students. He sought the resignation of Maharashtra school education minister Dada Bhuse. Later, Maharashtra police registered a case against the CJP convenor and others for allegedly entering a government school without permission, disrupting official work and threatening teachers.The state governments cited rules to browbeat the CJP teams away from its schools. But at the same time, they were forced to act to nullify the impact of the CJP campaign. So, while some states announced new measures to improve the condition of schools, others increased the pace of work already underway to ensure that results were seen on the ground quickly.
CJP claims credit
The CJP was quick to claim credit for govt actions and basked in glory.“The impact we’ve been able to make with such a small team in such a short span of time is just unreal. Multiple state governments have had to bow down. Authorities had to listen to Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids and give them their due,” it said in a post on X.“But this does not end here. We need to keep going until even the remotest regions of the nation, even the most deprived communities, have access to the highest standard of educational facilities. They may use force, they may file cases, they may do whatever they can to crush this, but we will remain committed to the same demand,” the post read.
Politial parties take a cue from CJP
While it can be debated whether or not the CJP campaign forced the governments into action, what can be said with certainty is that the CJP has managed to do what many political parties could not – inspire the youth to come to the streets and seek accountability from power.The two CJP campaigns also point to an interesting shift – which should be a learning lesson, especially for parties in the opposition space. We have seen the opposition parties raise the pitch against government on issues like caste and religion as these have greater potential for voter mobilisation. Rarely do we see campaigns by the opposition parties centred around health or education reforms. But that seems to have changed.
Youth outreach
The Congress has taken a cue and is trying to stay focused on students’ connect and raise issues that concern the youth. In Rajasthan, the state Congress unit is also on the streets to highlight gaps in state government school infrastructure.And it’s not just the opposition that is course-correcting; the ruling BJP has also drawn a roadmap to engage with the youth and understand their concerns. In the middle of the Gen Z protest, Prime Minister Narendra Modi debuted on Instagram and tried to communicate directly with the youth who were on the streets. The BJP has in fact formed a dedicated team to spearhead its Gen Z outreach.
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News agency ANI reported that this team includes BJP chief Nitin Nabin, national general secretaries Smriti Irani and Vinod Tawde, Gujarat minister Harsh Sanghavi, Chhattisgarh minister OP Choudhary, along with several other leaders.Clearly, the CJP has managed to change the political discourse and has put the focus on the youth as potential game-changers in electoral politics. As we gear up for the next rounds of assembly elections in the run-up to the 2029 Lok Sabha challenge, we may see youth outreach taking centre stage like never before.
