With the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) stepping up pressure on the Rajasthan government over the poor condition of schools in the state, the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bhartiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (ABRSM) has hit back at the outfit and opposed its actions while mobilising its network of lakhs of members across the state to improve the education system.

In its latest newsletter for September, ABRSM has said that government schools should be “free from political activities and outside interference”, adding that “the temples of education will not be allowed to become a political arena at any cost. The Mahasangh strongly opposes outside interference in schools and the use of teachers for political activities.”

This comes after a row and a confrontation over the CJP’s protest at a Rajasthan government school on August 21 in Rampura village of Jaipur’s Bagru Assembly constituency. Days after the protest, the Rajasthan government announced renovations at the school — a development that the CJP took as a sign of victory.

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ABRSM boasts of a membership of 2.80 lakh government school teachers in Rajasthan — 13.60 lakh across the country — with about 45,000 ABRSM workers/post holders in the state.

Countering CJP campaign

Referring to the attack on a CJP delegation that was on its way to visit a school on the outskirts of Jaipur, Mahasangh’s state organisation minister, Umrao Lal Verma, backed the villagers who opposed the visit, saying that “violence and physical violence cannot be supported under any circumstances, but the question of why political disputes are being brought to government schools is also serious”.

He said that if any individual or organisation has any objection to the arrangements, facilities or educational status of a government school, the prescribed channels of the education department and the administration are open to them, and that “it is not appropriate to enter a school without following the due process and creating a political controversy.” Last month, ABRSM had also held press conferences across the state to oppose CJP’s actions.

Talking to , ABRSM national president Narayan Lal Gupta said that ABRSM has been raising the issue of school infrastructure, teacher vacancies, etc. under successive governments for a long time. In the context of CJP’s campaign, he said that instead of merely highlighting the issues, there should be an attempt towards a solution too.

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The ABRSM has been running a ‘Humara vidyalaya, humara teerth’ (Our school, our pilgrimage) campaign to develop schools in the state and beyond, he said. In Rajasthan, the campaign covers as many as 10,000 schools. Additionally, he said that ABRSM recently adopted 1,000 government schools in the state as part of the same campaign, with the aim of their overall improvement, including infrastructure, teachers and student attendance, through the help of philanthropists, teachers, parents, ABRSM, as well as the government.

“If you look at the Jaipur school too (in Rampura), it was the locals who had given the land for this school,” Gupta said, adding that the issues which have been plaguing the schools for the last 60-70 years cannot be resolved in a year and that “We have been raising the issue of increasing the education budget at the central level to 6 percent.”

ABRSM state president Ramesh Chandra Pushkarna said that the idea behind the campaign is to have the same “facilities and peace” at school as is often seen at pilgrimage sites.

Citing the state government’s audit last year, which said that 86,934 rooms in schools were completely dilapidated, Pushkarna said that an amount of Rs 3,000 crore for rebuilding those rooms isn’t enough. With CJP visiting schools in the state, he urged it to raise money from its social media followers, numbering in crores, to repair these schools, “instead of merely indulging in propaganda.” As for ABRSM’s own efforts, he said ABRSM’s members have been doing their bit to improve the condition of schools.

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The ABRSM has also backed the state government over its recent directive restricting the entry of outsiders, with its division vice-president Arjun Singh saying that the outfit “supports the efforts by Education Minister Madan Dilawar to improve the education system… The guidelines have been issued to control outsiders and political interference, and are intended to provide a safe, disciplined, and educational environment in schools.”

Additional General Secretary Basant Jindal said that while engaging in politics may be a democratic right, “using government schools as a platform for political conflict is unacceptable”. Its state joint minister, Devendra Sharma, said schools should not become a political battlefield.

“Creating political conflict in government schools is not in the best interest of students, teachers, or the Rajasthan education system. If genuine problems arise in any school, the organisation supports raising them with the administration in a factual and democratic manner,” he said.

The CJP’s visit to the Rampur school on August 21 was met with opposition, leading to a high-profile confrontation and attack on the outfit’s volunteers.