First came the assault. Then came the denial: The risks of documenting India’s broken schools

School Thik Karo encourages citizens to record deficiencies in government schools. Its early audits have prompted repairs, but confrontations in Rajasthan, West Bengal and Maharashtra show how quickly scrutiny can turn into a dispute over who is allowed to collect evidence.

When members of the youth pressure group Cockroach Janta Party arrived at Rampura-Kanwarpura village near Jaipur on August 21, they planned to inspect a government primary school reportedly operating from a makeshift structure. They left without completing the inspection. Videos showed members of the group being chased and assaulted and their vehicles being damaged.

CJP co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka alleged that people associated with the BJP had attacked the team. Local BJP MLA Kailash Verma offered a sharply different account. He accused CJP members of frightening villagers and claimed that they had damaged their own vehicles to gain sympathy.

Publicly available footage undermined that part of his account.

An Alt News investigation identified a man smashing the windows of two CJP vehicles and striking another person with a stick. The man later said on camera that he was with the BJP and was subsequently seen standing beside Verma while the MLA addressed reporters. The footage does not independently establish his formal party membership or prove that the MLA directed the violence. It does, however, contradict the claim that CJP members broke those vehicle windows themselves. Alt News

Police registered cases based on complaints from both sides. CJP members alleged assault and criminal intimidation. A counter-complaint accused members of the visiting group of misconduct and caste-based abuse. None of those allegations has been proved.

The incident illustrates why School Thik Karo is about more than school infrastructure. It has become a contest over who may enter a public institution, record its condition and control the account of what follows.

When the evidence becomes the controversy

Formally launched on August 15, School Thik Karo asks citizens to examine drinking water, toilets, electricity, classroom safety, midday meals and teacher attendance in government schools. Participants are encouraged to photograph deficiencies, notify local authorities and publish their findings.

The method has produced at least one confirmed result. After CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke inspected a Zilla Parishad school in Santuk Pimpri, Maharashtra, its gram panchayat began replacing damaged windows and defunct CCTV cameras and addressed a shortage of water in the toilets. The sarpanch and school authorities acknowledged that the work followed the visit. The Times of India

Around the same period, Rajasthan cleared ₹18 lakh for a school building in Rampura-Kanwarpura. CJP attributed the decision to its intervention, although the administrative history of the proposal must be examined before that claim can be accepted. The Indian Express

The campaign’s expansion has coincided with tighter controls. Hours after CJP announced inspections across Rajasthan, the Education Department issued guidelines requiring outsiders to obtain permission before entering government schools. Written approval is required for photography, video, interviews or livestreaming involving students, teachers or school activities.

The government says the rules protect children’s privacy, dignity and safety. That is a legitimate responsibility. Campaigners do not acquire an unrestricted right to enter classrooms, question children or publish their identities merely because a school is publicly funded.

The accountability test is whether authorities provide a reasonable alternative. Citizens should be able to document an empty classroom, broken toilet or unsafe roof without recording identifiable children. If permission can be refused without explanation, safeguarding rules could also shield infrastructure from scrutiny.

The need for scrutiny is supported by Rajasthan’s own figures. Data cited by Outlook reported that 611 government schools were functioning without buildings, 2,047 had no toilets and 1,049 lacked drinking-water facilities. A separate 2025 State survey found that 45,365 schools required major repairs. Outlook India

One campaign, different confrontations

The most serious incident connected to the campaign occurred in Bankura, West Bengal. On August 13, two days before its formal launch, CJP supporter Abdul Hafiz sought to document the condition of the government primary school he had once attended. He alleged that local BJP supporters later attacked him and his family. His father, Sheikh Mohammad Mafik, was injured and died two days later.

Eight people were arrested, reportedly including a BJP functionary. BJP representatives denied that the party was responsible and said individual offenders should face the law.

The cause of Mafik’s death remains contested. His family says he died from injuries sustained in the assault. West Bengal Police said his injury required a single stitch and that he was subsequently hospitalised after severe fluctuations in blood pressure. Police have acknowledged that an assault occurred and confirmed the arrests, while disputing the family’s account of what caused Mafik’s death. A medical or judicial finding is needed before the assault can be described as the established cause of death. The Indian Express

In Latur, Maharashtra, the dispute took a different form. Police booked Dipke and others after a teacher alleged that they entered a Zilla Parishad Urdu school without permission, interrupted classes, recorded students and threatened staff. The allegations remain under investigation. Dipke’s criticism of school conditions does not by itself invalidate the teacher’s complaint; nor does the registration of an FIR prove that his conduct was criminal. The Indian Express

The three cases should not be collapsed into evidence of a centrally directed campaign. Their facts and responsible authorities differ. What they reveal is an emerging conflict between citizen scrutiny and the authority of schools and governments to regulate access.

The BJP has the right to question CJP’s methods and political motives. However, when a person apparently associated with the party is recorded damaging property, or when an accused party functionary is arrested, the BJP should establish whether the accused hold organisational positions, cooperate with the investigation and state clearly what action it will take if their involvement is established.

CJP must meet standards of its own. Its auditors should seek permission, avoid filming identifiable children, preserve unedited evidence and refrain from publicly intimidating teachers who may not control infrastructure budgets.

School Thik Karo began with the proposition that showing the condition of a school could compel authorities to repair it. Its first weeks have revealed the promise of that approach and its risks. A camera can produce accountability, but only if those behind it act responsibly and those in front of it are not permitted to answer scrutiny with violence.