The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has criticised government spending on the upkeep of Union ministers’ official residences in Lutyens’ Delhi, arguing that the money could instead be used to improve infrastructure in government schools.
The criticism followed a PTI report stating that annual expenditure on maintaining ministers’ residences rose from ₹27 crore in 2014-15 to a record ₹92 crore in 2025-26.
Reacting to the figures, the CJP said on X, “Stop fixing your lavish homes, and fix the schools! ₹92 crore = 10 new world class government schools. The money is available, the intent to use it for government schools is missing.”
The party cited data it said was obtained through an RTI, according to which ₹133.9 crore was spent on residential upkeep between 2014 and 2019, ₹250 crore between 2019 and 2024, and ₹174.5 crore between 2024 and 2026. The total expenditure over the 12-year period was put at ₹547.68 crore.
The remarks come amid the CJP’s ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign, launched on August 15 to push for better facilities in rural government schools. The campaign calls for social audits and improvements in basic amenities including electricity, drinking water, toilets and mid-day meals.
The party has also highlighted the lack of transport facilities for students in rural areas, arguing that government schools should not be denied basic infrastructure despite the availability of public funds. “Lack of funds was never the problem. Lack of intent is,” the CJP said.
Previously, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke had questioned why funds from the PM CARES Fund could not be used to improve basic facilities in rural schools. According to the fund’s latest audited statements, its corpus increased by 17.8% from ₹7,173.03 crore in 2023-24 to ₹8,452.07 crore in 2024-25.
Dipke said his recent visits to government schools had shown gaps in basic amenities, including access to drinking water. “They are struggling to get drinking water in schools. So why are we not using this money for those children's schools? Why is this money not being used to build new schools?” he said.
He pointed to what he described as a mismatch between the reported shortage of funds in schools and the size of the PM CARES corpus. “So on one hand, it is being said that there are no funds for schools, and on the other hand, ₹8,500 crore is lying in the PM CARES Fund,” Dipke said.
The CJP founder estimated that a well-equipped model school could cost around ₹8 crore. On that calculation, he said, the PM CARES corpus could theoretically fund more than 1,000 such schools. “If one school costs ₹8 crore, then with ₹8,500 crore, more than 1,000 new high-tech model schools could have been built. But none of this is happening,”** he said.
The PM CARES Fund was established in March 2020 to respond to emergencies, including the Covid-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is its chairperson, with the defence, home and finance ministers serving as trustees.
The BJP rejected the CJP’s criticism and accused the party of spreading misinformation about the PM CARES Fund. The BJP said the fund was intended for emergency and disaster relief, while also attacking AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and alleging that the CJP was an AAP “pet project”. “PM CARES funds are meant for emergency and disaster relief. Mr. @ArvindKejriwal, you taught your men good theatrics, but not basic facts. That’s not surprising,” he BJP said on X.
BJP also challenged Abhijeet Dipke to visit Punjab and examine government schools there, questioning the AAP government’s claims of providing “world-class schools”.
