Weeks after thousands of students protested in New Delhi over alleged failures in India’s examination system, the so-called Cockroach movement is taking its campaign to the grassroots, launching audits of state-run schools.
The movement says it wants to expose poor conditions in government schools and press for broader reforms to the education system. Its campaign is drawing attention to what organisers describe as chronic underfunding and shortages of basic facilities, including clean toilets, electricity and teaching staff.
But the group says the drive is already meeting resistance from authorities.
In Rajasthan, which is governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, authorities have issued an order restricting unauthorised access by outsiders to school premises. Live-streaming from inside schools has also been prohibited.
The Cockroach movement has criticised the restrictions, calling the order “cowardly”. Organisers say volunteers are prepared to defy the measure and face arrest, insisting the inspections will continue.
The dispute marks a fresh phase in a movement that gained national attention after weeks of demonstrations in New Delhi over examination irregularities.
Meanwhile, a separate student protest is intensifying hundreds of kilometres away in the eastern state of Jharkhand.
Thousands of students have been protesting in the state capital, Ranchi, for around three weeks, with some demonstrators staging a hunger strike. The protests began following alleged irregularities, including reported leaks, in two examinations for state government jobs.
The Jharkhand government, led by an alliance opposed to Modi’s federal administration, has held several rounds of talks with protesters and accepted most of their demands.
However, one major point of contention remains: calls for a federal police investigation into the alleged examination irregularities.
Protests intensified over the weekend, with demonstrators burning effigies of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and threatening to surround his residence.
The state government has since opened a fresh round of talks aimed at breaking the impasse.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has criticised the Jharkhand government’s handling of the protests, adding to political pressure on the state administration.
The developments come only weeks after the Cockroach Janata Party led a 36-day protest in New Delhi over alleged failures in the national examination system.
The campaign ended after India’s education minister resigned amid an exam leak scandal, delivering a significant victory for protesters and pushing examination integrity higher up the political agenda.
The Cockroach movement is now seeking to broaden its focus beyond examinations, using school audits to put the condition of public education under scrutiny.
Its confrontation with authorities in Rajasthan, alongside the continuing unrest in Jharkhand, suggests student-led demands for greater transparency and education reform are gaining momentum across India.
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