CJP’s School Theek Karo Campaign Reaches Moulali Govt HS

Hyderabad:A considerable stretch around government high school, Moula Ali, is bordered by abandoned railway quarters, tall grass and accumulated waste. An unused jungle gym sits in one corner of the school grounds, grass growing around it.

Outside the gate, the concern is more serious. Students have to pass close to an isolated railway stretch where the headmaster acknowledges there is a problem and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) volunteers allege people gather to drink alcohol and consume drugs.

That stretch and the safety of children who use it, particularly girls, became the main issue during CJP Telangana’s seventh visit under its “School Theek Karo” (Fix Our Schools) campaign on Thursday. The visit also showed the awkward position the relatively new group now finds itself in as it tries to build a presence around public education in Telangana. Volunteers say they want to question the system, but work within its rules; school staff say they are willing to talk, but cannot allow outsiders access to children without permission from higher officials.

CJP did not leave Moula Ali with a long list of complaints against the school. Volunteers said the roughly 500-student school was functioning better than several others they had seen. They praised its midday meal, water supply and the efforts made by the headmaster to arrange an RTC bus for students.

“We came to know that everything is going fine, but outside the school premises there are some antisocial elements,” CJP Telangana volunteer Rajesh said. The headmaster accepted during his interaction with the volunteers that the external stretch was a problem and said the school had already changed the way it manages children’s movement because of it.

Girls are not sent out alone; he told the team. Students leave in groups and parents are expected to collect girls from the school. Female teachers also speak to students about safety and ask them to report anything that happens outside.

The headmaster also said he had pursued an RTC service through Prajavani after students faced difficulty reaching the school. The bus now operates around school timings and has been running for about a year, he said. The school also helps children secure bus passes online. Gary Mathews of CJP said the bus arrangement deserved recognition.

The flyover and changed bus access have created another problem. According to the headmaster, some children now get down farther away and have to walk roughly 500 metres to reach the school.

Mathews said the party wanted regular police patrolling along the isolated stretch, particularly during the hours when children arrive and leave. CJP also wants senior police officers and the State’s EAGLE team to look into complaints of substance use around the abandoned railway quarters. Volunteers said Railway authorities would have to be involved in any attempt to clear vegetation, fence unused quarters or restrict access to the property.

The group’s attempt to speak directly with students, however, stopped. CJP members tried to secure permission from DEO in Malkajgiri but did not receive clearance to conduct a student interaction or survey.

“Factually, it’s not any sort of resistance, but protocols that are established within government institutions,” Mathews said. “We want to work with the government so as to better the situations and the systems.”

That distinction matters to CJP as it tries to expand the School Theek Karo campaign. Volunteers repeatedly said they did not blame the headmaster or teachers. Their complaint was that staff at the school level were bound by instructions from higher officials even when they were willing to cooperate.

A woman CJP volunteer, who requested anonymity, put it straight and said, “We are just going to the schools and asking them a basic thing, that we just want to check how the schools are functioning. When we go to the schools, they are saying that from higher ends we are not getting permissions.”

Volunteers said they would give the authorities about 10 days to respond. If there is still no movement, they said they would return and again try to speak to students.