Nagpur, Sept 16 (INB) The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Wednesday launched its “Adivasi School Thik Karo” campaign and demanded an independent audit of tribal residential schools across the country, it said CJP National Convenor and founder Abhijeet Dipke made the announcement at a press conference in Nagpur along with National Organisation In-charge Ajinkya Shinde and Joint Secretary Akshay Shinde. The campaign follows Maharashtra’s admission that 584 students died in tribal residential schools over the last two years, the party said in a statement. CJP also referred to the deaths of three tribal girls in a Gadchiroli hostel in August after a snakebite. The party alleged that the girls were made to sleep on the floor due to a shortage of cots and said 79 girls were reportedly staying in a single room. The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice in the matter, it stated. “The continuous neglect of our tribal and marginalized communities is a deep stain on our nation’s conscience,” Dipke said. Referring to the deaths, he questioned the adequacy of compensation provided to families of tribal students and demanded accountability from authorities. The party also raised concerns over the reported deaths of more than 30 children in Balaghat, alleging that poor drinking water, food poisoning and inadequate medical care were contributing to the crisis, it added. CJP said the problems in tribal residential schools reflected a wider pattern and cited a Parliamentary Standing Committee’s findings on overcrowding and sub-standard food in ashram schools. The party said only 477 of 720 sanctioned Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) were functional and alleged that thousands of sanctioned teaching posts remained vacant. CJP demanded an independent, non-departmental audit of every tribal residential school in India within three months and sought public disclosure of student deaths in ashram schools and EMRS over the past decade. It also called for a national public dashboard showing the number of sanctioned and functional schools and demanded full utilisation of the EMRS budget before sanctioning new schools, it added. The party has urged citizens to report conditions at their nearest tribal residential school through its campaign platform.
