About 50 activists of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), led by its co-convener Ashutosh Ranka, joined a protest by students and local residents at a government school in Rajasthan’s Alwar district against the dilapidated condition of the school and a shortage of teaching staff.

The Government Senior Secondary School at Jodhawas in Thanagazi block had seen a slab fall from its roof earlier this week. Moreover, five of the six senior teachers’ posts in the school are vacant.

During the protest on Friday (August 14, 2026), Mr. Ranka and others got into a heated argument with police personnel, alleging that some people they claimed were associated with the BJP got into the school and assaulted protesters.

Students and local residents had been protesting for two days against the conditions at the school. The CJP activists who joined the protest included Deepak Balyan, Mukesh Allrounder, Apoorv, Ram and Ayaz.

During his argument with the police personnel, Mr. Ranka referred to the students’ protest in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar that led to the resignation of the Union Education Minister. He said, “The interests of students in Rajasthan will not be allowed to be compromised..”

Addressing the protesters, Mr. Ranka said there were about 84,000 classrooms in Rajasthan that were in a dilapidated condition, adding that this was putting the future of 15 lakh children at risk. “If the BJP government fails to repair these classrooms, it should brace itself for the largest protest in the State’s history,” he said.

Dilapidated building

The Jodhawas school has two buildings, one of which was declared dilapidated last year and has remained shut since then. The school now operates entirely from the other three-room building, which has to host classes for 174 children and also the staff room and principal’s office. Students also complained that the roof of this building leaked during the rainy season.

On Wednesday (August 12), a slab from the roof of the closed-down building fell. No students were in the building when the incident took place.

Mr. Ranka also raised questions regarding funding for school infrastructure, pointing out that though State Education Minister Madan Dilawar had said that ₹20,000 crore would be required to construct buildings, the State government had released only ₹500 crore. He demanded that the funds be arranged from all sources, including the PM CARES Fund and loans from the Centre.

On Friday (August 14) evening, senior officers of the Education Department arrived at the school and held talks with protesters, after which the sit-in was called off. Chief District Education Officer Mahesh Gupta said the shortage of teachers would be addressed and steps would be taken to resolve all grievances.

The Education Department gave an assurance to the protesters that all classrooms would be repaired within a week and that seven new classrooms would be constructed over the next three months. A playground for the children will be prepared by the village panchayat within the next three months, the protesters were promised. Besides, authorities also assured protesters that a damaged bridge on the approach road to the school would be made motorable in two days.

Published - August 15, 2026 09:49 pm IST