Remember Shaan and Kunal Ganjawala’s voice as they encouraged kids to wake up early in the morning and get dressed to head to school? School Chale Hum, which became the anthem of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in the early 2000s, has returned in the public discourse in an unexpected way. Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) School Thik Karo campaign, which is pushing for social audits of government schools and drawing attention to gaps in basic infrastructure, has brought the familiar anthem back in public memory. Only now, it’s being used to ask an uncomfortable question: are the schools equipped for students?

Abhijeet Dipke (L) at a school during his campaign