CJP school audit campaign faces pushback after Mumbai civic school complaint | Mumbai News
MUMBAI: The Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) campaign to conduct civil audits of government schools has run into its first major pushback in Mumbai, with the headmaster of Colaba Market Civic School filing a complaint against CJP members with the BMC who visited the school to inspect its infrastructure.The visit was part of the CJP’s national “School Theek Karo” campaign, launched on Independence Day to draw attention to gaps in basic facilities at govt and municipal schools.The campaign calls on citizens and volunteers to inspect schools in person and document the availability of essentials such as drinking water, functional toilets, electricity, classroom infrastructure, teaching staff, safety measures, and cleanliness.During the Colaba school visit, the CJP team flagged several alleged deficiencies.Among the issues observed were a Telugu-medium section that, according to the auditors, lacked teachers; had inadequate benches; toilets with poor sanitation; nonfunctioning faucets; and classrooms with garbage strewn around.The complaint filed by the headmaster has, however, left CJP members wary about continuing the audits in Mumbai.A CJP member said the group was now being cautious about entering schools and documenting deficiencies.“Right now, we are cautious about conducting further audits because they are simply waiting for us to make even one small mistake, and we are being very careful,” the member said.The organisation has nevertheless continued to focus on building a volunteer network.The CJP has been holding meetings to recruit and train volunteers, with one meeting held in Navi Mumbai on Friday and another in Mumbai on Saturday. Multiple plain clothes policemen attended the meetings.The BMC did not confirm whether CJP members or other civil society groups are permitted to independently enter municipal schools and conduct such audits, or what the complaint entailed.Sujata Khare and Kirtivardhan Kiritkudve, education officers, did not respond to TOI’s calls and messages seeking clarification.
