Rural Education

CJP Founder Abhijeet Dipke Announces National Push to Improve Village Government Schools

August 10, 2026

On August 10, 2026, Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), announced a nationwide campaign to improve government schools in villages. The campaign will formally launch on August 15, India’s Independence Day. It calls on parents, citizens, and village leaders to work together on what the CJP has described as the “neglect of rural educational infrastructure.” The initiative combines citizen-led social audits of school facilities with a public challenge aimed at village heads, known as sarpanches.

Dipke announced the campaign in a video message. He said he would personally launch the effort from his village, Hingoli, in Maharashtra, by approaching the village head with a request to improve government schools there. He tied the launch date to the country’s Independence Day and framed the effort as a long-overdue correction.

“The coming 15th August is our 80th Independence Day. But, if anything has been neglected or ignored the most in the last 80 years, it is the government schools in our villages,” Dipke said.

He added: “We have made a new Parliament, a new PM house. Why have we not been able to build new schools in our villages? Do we not consider the children of farmers and labourers the future of our country?”

Dipke described the daily struggles faced by many rural schoolchildren. He said village children still have to walk long distances to attend school, and when they arrive, basic facilities such as drinking water and toilets are often unavailable.

“Even today, village children have to walk a long distance to go to school. After going there, they don’t find water or toilet facilities,” he said.

He highlighted that the absence of basic amenities is especially difficult for girls. Dipke said the Independence Day launch was an opportunity to shift attention toward a neglected issue.

“I feel that on this 15th August, if we should pay attention to anything, if we should make a new start, we should start by improving our government schools,” he said.

How the Campaign Will Work

As part of the campaign, the CJP has issued an appeal to sarpanches across the country to improve government schools in their respective villages. Dipke said he would personally approach the village head in Hingoli, and he urged other village heads to take up the same task in their own communities.

Sarpanch Challenge: The organisation has branded this effort a “Sarpanch Challenge.” Under the challenge, the CJP will publicly recognise village heads who improve their schools. Village heads can share before-and-after photographs of school improvements, and the CJP will feature them on its social media platforms while giving credit to the sarpanches concerned.

“We will give you credit so that after seeing you, after seeing the schools that you have improved, many other village heads also start improving schools in their villages,” Dipke said.

The campaign also includes a citizen-led social audit of government schools. Parents whose children study in government schools have been asked to visit the institutions and check for basic facilities. These include:

  • Electricity
  • Clean drinking water
  • Functional washrooms
  • Mid-day meals

“You go to your children's schools and see if basic facilities are available. See if there is electricity, water… Do your children get washroom facilities? Do they get mid-day meals?” Dipke said.

He urged parents to record videos if the facilities are not available. He described access to a decent school as a basic right.

“If not, you make videos of it. Because your children's schooling should be good. That is your fundamental right,” he said.

The CJP said it will soon issue a printable audit form so that citizens can record the facilities available and those missing in their children’s schools. The form will be shared through a link on the campaign videos posted on the CJP’s official social media platforms. Completed forms and video evidence can be emailed to contact@cockroachjantaparty.org.

The campaign’s stated goal is to ensure that children of farmers and wage labourers studying in village schools have access to facilities comparable to those available to children in cities. Dipke closed the video with a direct appeal.

“Let us all make a promise to the children who live in villages that we will improve their schools. Together, we can do this,” he said.

He concluded with the message: “Real India lives in villages.”

Background and Context

The CJP began as an online satirical platform before taking its campaign to the streets. It gained wider public attention during a 36-day agitation at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against examination irregularities. That protest was called off on July 25 after the resignation of the then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Earlier in August 2026, amid speculation over its future course, the CJP held a two-day strategy meeting at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra. The organisation decided to continue as a youth movement rather than enter electoral politics. It also announced a separate nationwide outreach effort called “Kya Bolti Public?”

Dipke had earlier urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use his Independence Day address to speak to the country’s youth.

The new village schools campaign places the CJP’s focus on local infrastructure and public accountability. By asking parents to document missing amenities and by publicly rewarding sarpanches who act, the initiative tries to turn attention to rural schools without relying on government programmes alone. The response from village heads and parents will determine how far the campaign spreads beyond its August 15 launch.