Rajasthan: Locals resist CJP’s school inspection, ‘push’ activists out of village

Locals allegedly pushed a Cockroach Janta Party team out of Rampura Kanwarpura village in Jaipur while members inspected a government school under the ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign. Villagers protested the visit, citing school repair plans, while CJP criticised Rajasthan’s restrictions

Jaipur: Locals allegedly pushed a Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) team out of the village in Jaipur’s Bagru Assembly constituency on Friday after the latter went there to inspect a government primary school as part of its ongoing ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign, sources said.

The incident took place at Rampura Kanwarpura village in Jaipur district, where CJP workers had gone to inspect the school and interact with the students and teachers.

Bagru DSP Dharmendra Sharma, however, said he was unaware of any such development.

The locals reportedly barricaded the main approach road to the village before the CJP team arrived and were seen checking vehicles entering the area.

Soon, a confrontation broke out between the villagers and the CJP workers, following which the latter were pushed out of the area, the sources said.

The villagers later staged a sit-in outside the school, raising slogans against the CJP.

The school building has been closed for students after being declared ‘unsafe’. Classes are currently being held in a cattle enclosure near the school building.

The villagers, who were joined by BJP workers, said the school could be repaired with local efforts and claimed that the government had already sanctioned funds for the work.

The CJP team had planned to visit two government schools in Jaipur district on Friday to assess their infrastructure and the facilities available to the students.

Friday’s visit followed a controversy over the entry of public and media into government schools in Rajasthan.

Following earlier inspections by the CJP, the state education department reportedly restricted entry of outsiders and mediapersons into schools without a specific reason.

CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka had criticised the Rajasthan government over the restriction, and accused the education minister of attempting to hide the poor condition of government schools.

“The education minister is adopting an authoritarian approach to hide the poor state of education in Rajasthan. We will not be intimidated by the government’s order. Our mission will continue until the condition of all government schools in Rajasthan improves,” Ranka said.

As part of the campaign, the CJP plans to assess academic arrangements, facilities available to students, the condition of school buildings and other infrastructure, besides interacting with teachers and students to ascertain the ground situation of primary education in government schools in the rural belts.