Lucknow: The political discourse surrounding the public education system in Uttar Pradesh has intensified following the launch of the ‘School Theek Karo’ (Fix Schools) campaign by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). CJP spokesperson Saurav Das has raised serious questions regarding the state government’s recent announcement to upgrade primary educational institutes into “smart schools,” alleging massive discrepancies in the budget allocation.
Taking to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Das claimed that within just six hours of the CJP initiating a social audit of government schools in the state, the Yogi Adityanath-led cabinet announced a decision to transform over 14,000 primary schools into smart schools.
However, Das flagged a massive shortfall in the financial backing for the ambitious initiative. According to him, the budget allocated by the government is only sufficient for approximately 300 schools, which translates to a mere Rs 2 lakh per school. Questioning the administration’s intent, he asked why adequate funds were not provisioned if the plan genuinely aimed to upgrade over 14,000 facilities. Launching a sharp political attack, he contrasted the meagre school allocation with the substantial funds spent on constructing ruling party offices.
Under the ‘School Theek Karo’ initiative, CJP teams are actively conducting social audits of government schools, inspecting basic infrastructure such as buildings, drinking water facilities, toilets, and classrooms. Earlier this September, the team inspected schools in Noida, bringing several infrastructural deficiencies to light. Following this, Das appealed to the youth of Uttar Pradesh to independently audit government schools in their respective neighbourhoods.
The campaign, however, has not been without controversy. Following the Noida inspections, Das alleged that internal instructions were issued to shut down all government schools in the Gautam Buddha Nagar district. The state education department swiftly refuted these claims. District Basic Education Officer Rahul Panwar issued a public clarification, labelling Das’s assertions as “false and misleading.” Panwar confirmed that all council schools in the district were operating on their regular schedules and no closure orders had been issued.
While the CJP maintains that exposing the ground reality of state-run schools is a necessary public exercise, the education department continues to challenge several of their claims with official administrative facts.