Archive · 16 Aug 2026
Kudos, Cockroaches: Columnist Backs Campaign to Repair Rural Schools
India just celebrated its 80th Independence Day on August 15.
A writer named Tavleen Singh wrote a column about what she thinks India should focus on.
She says leaders waste money on fancy buildings like a new Parliament House.
She thinks that money should be used to fix village schools.
Many village schools have broken walls, bare floors, and dirty toilets.
A group called the Cockroach Janta Party started a campaign to repair these schools.
They posted pictures of the schools on social media.
The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, blamed the Congress Party for Partition in a speech.
The writer says leaders should spend less time on old quarrels and more time on schools and poor children.
She hopes one day no child will have to sell flags on the street just to get a hot meal.
The Cockroach Janta Party launched a campaign on August 15 to repair rural schools, posting pictures of crumbling classrooms and filthy toilets on social media.
Columnist Tavleen Singh says money and time spent on a new Parliament House and prime minister's residence should have gone to repairing rural schools.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath blamed the Congress Party for Partition and said it would never have happened under Narendra Modi.
Praiseworthy achievements named include democracy, peaceful transfer of power, foodgrain self-sufficiency, and extreme poverty falling from 45% in 1990 to less than 15%.
Comparing India with China, Singh notes China's economy is five times larger, 800 million Chinese have escaped poverty, and literacy is 97% versus 70%.
- Who
- Columnist Tavleen Singh, the Cockroach Janta Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and the Congress Party.
- What
- A critical Independence Day column praising the Cockroach Janta Party's rural school repair campaign and condemning leaders' spending priorities and divisive speeches.
- When
- Around August 15, India's 80th Independence Day.
- Where
- India; the column references Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and Mumbai.
- Why
- The author argues that fixing government schools and helping poor children matters more than ceremonial projects and historical grievance speeches.
Critics of the government's record
Government and BJP leaders
Partition blame on Independence Day
Critics of the government's record
Dwelling on Partition wounds is divisive and prevents building a better future; leaders should stop assigning blame for the past.
Government and BJP leaders
Yogi Adityanath said the Congress Party was responsible for Partition and that it would never have happened if Narendra Modi had been prime minister.
Condition of government schools
Critics of the government's record
Government schools were always schools only in name, and Modi has failed to improve them or end corruption in national examinations in 12 years.
Government and BJP leaders
Some romanticise about how wonderful these schools once were and argue they deteriorated since Modi became prime minister.
- Occasion
- India's 80th Independence Day, August 15
- Campaign
- Cockroach Janta Party rural school repair drive
- Main criticism
- Spending on new Parliament House and prime minister's residence instead of rural schools
- Extreme poverty
- Reduced from 45% in 1990 to less than 15% today
- Literacy rates
- India about 70%; China 97%
- Economy comparison
- China's economy five times India's; 800 million Chinese out of poverty
- Figures criticized
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
