Nagpur: Abhijit Deepke, the chief architect of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), has openly challenged governments over the deplorable conditions of tribal‑run schools and the chronic administrative neglect that plagues them across India. In a press briefing in Nagpur, he asserted that tribal education has been systematically abandoned for decades.
Deepke announced that the CJP will roll out the “Fix Tribal Schools” campaign on 17 September, kicking off in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district. The initiative seeks to spotlight fundamental issues such as the educational rights of tribal children, the absence of basic infrastructure, and the bureaucratic hurdles they confront.
Under the campaign’s banner, party volunteers will travel to schools in predominantly tribal regions to verify on‑ground realities, from classroom conditions to sanitation facilities. This follows a previous “Fix Schools” effort that targeted the broader network of government schools.
Criticising political priorities, Deepke noted that parties lavish millions on constructing their own offices while simultaneously claiming a lack of funds for tribal residential schools.
He also disputed narratives of the nation’s economic boom, insisting that any genuine progress must reach tribal communities. Deepke highlighted that more than 590 tribal students have died in Maharashtra over the past two years – incidents that include fatal snakebites – and that over 30 children have perished in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh, within the last two months.
Addressing compensation policies, Deepke accused several state governments of offering token financial aid instead of delivering meaningful assistance and dignity to grieving families.
According to the CJP founder, out of the 720 Eklavya Model Residential Schools sanctioned nationwide, 477 remain shuttered, leaving a massive segment of tribal youth without access to education. He raised concerns about the low enrollment of tribal students in higher‑education institutions and the scant representation of Scheduled Tribe candidates in premier colleges such as the IITs.
Deepke called for a thorough investigation into the systemic barriers that keep tribal students and teachers under‑represented, urging the government to adopt concrete, accountability‑driven measures to rectify these deep‑rooted inequities.
