New Delhi: “If I have to go to jail, I will prefer to go to jail for this,” says Rajat Singh, a youth activist in Uttar Pradesh, defiant after being booked by state police for shooting and circulating a video showing the dilapidated condition of a government school in his hometown Deoria.On Saturday (August 22), Deoria police registered a first information report (FIR) against Singh on charges of entering a primary school in Gauribazar’s Damar Bishwa village without authorisation and spreading misinformation.Ideologically affiliated with the Congress party, Singh is part of a recently launched youth initiative under the banner of the Justice Morcha, which has embarked on a ‘GenZ Connect Yatra’ across eastern Uttar Pradesh to highlight issues affecting the youth, particularly the state of public education and employment.On August 16, Singh visited the Damar Bishwa primary school and subsequently uploaded a video to Facebook. The footage purportedly showed broken toilets for girls, a dilapidated building structure, and construction debris along with garbage strewn across the campus.“This is the reality of our children’s education. Is this how India will become a ‘Vishwa Guru’?” read the caption accompanying the nearly two-minute-long clip.The police action was initiated following a written complaint lodged by Gauribazar’s block education officer Vinay Sheel Mishra. The FIR was registered against Singh under sections 329(4) and 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). These provisions pertain to criminal house-trespass and the making, publishing or circulating of false information or rumors intended to promote enmity, hatred or ill-will between different communities or groups.The legal action comes in the backdrop of directives issued by basic education authorities in several districts across Uttar Pradesh banning outsiders, including YouTubers and social media users, from entering government primary and upper primary schools to film videos inside campus premises.Orders issued by basic shiksha adhikaris in at least seven districts – Hapur, Ayodhya, Balrampur, Agra, Ballia, Basti and Azamgarh – follow widespread demonstrations and protests organised by school students demanding improved infrastructure and drawing attention to systemic shortcomings in the BJP-ruled state.Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has also sharply censured the practice of sharing photographs of dilapidated school buildings on social media platforms. Speaking at an event in Lucknow on Sunday to honour mid-day meal cooks, Adityanath remarked: “Some people are sharing photographs of dilapidated buildings on social media. The very people at whose behest you are showing these – these are the memorials of those same individuals.”Speaking to The Wire, Singh accused the state administration of resorting to intimidation to cover up its failures within government-run educational institutions.“I am not bothered by the FIR. If by lodging this FIR and by scaring us, the administration thinks it will benefit, it won’t. It will be better for the administration if they spent the same energy in repairing toilets and ceilings. Our purpose through these videos is to help the government and the administration in improving the condition of our schools,” Singh said.In his official police complaint, block education officer Mishra stated that the primary school in Damar Bishwa was locked on August 16 because it was a Sunday. He alleged that without obtaining permission from any competent authority, Singh jumped over the school’s boundary wall and unlawfully gained access to the premises.Mishra further clarified that the campus housed an inactive building that had already been auctioned and demolished in accordance with prescribed rules. He stated that some demolition debris had been piled in a corner of the school compound and that the administration was already in the process of clearing it. Following the publication of Singh’s video, the debris was removed entirely.The officer alleged that Singh deliberately utilised the presence of the demolition debris to “tarnish the department’s image” through false propaganda on social media. Mishra asserted that the school had already been saturated under ‘Operation Kayakalp’, a scheme launched by the Adityanath government aimed at transforming infrastructure across state-run primary and upper primary schools.In the FIR, Mishra alleged that Singh intentionally concealed these facts in his video. “He deliberately made a false video and posted it on social media with the intention of tarnishing the image of the government, department and school, thereby tarnishing the image of the school and the department, which reflects his vile mentality, even though the school conducts regular teaching and learning,” the complaint read.Singh, a resident of the area, however, asserted that the debris had remained unattended on the campus for months. “They removed the debris only now. It had been lying there for four or five months. When we started our campaign, I thought why not start with my own village. That’s why we went to this school,” he explained.Singh added that contrary to the achievements touted by the state government, public schools in Uttar Pradesh, especially those situated in rural belts, remain in a severe state of neglect.“I will not go as far as the curriculum and syllabus. Let’s just talk about the basic amenities and infrastructure. How many schools have proper floors, bathrooms, toilets, fans and leak-proof ceilings?” he asked.State basic education minister Sandeep Singh joined Adityanath in criticising those highlighting school infrastructure issues. Addressing the same Lucknow event on Sunday, Sandeep Singh, without naming specific individuals, alleged that “some people were only trying to find negativity and try to demotivate everyone working in our department.”The minister maintained that prior to 2017, Uttar Pradesh’s basic education department was mired in “negative discussions” and remained in a “state of complete disarray”. However, he argued that since the BJP assumed office, extensive reforms were implemented, steering the sector in a positive direction.“Some people don’t like the development, the positive work and the way in which the basic education department is moving forward strongly,” the minister said.Adityanath also referred to the past governments, stating that prior to 2017, government primary schools presented a “desolate” picture characterised by a sense of gloom. He asserted that through targeted initiatives like Operation Kayakalp and Project Alankar (which focuses on upgrading infrastructure in secondary schools) older, dilapidated structures were being systematically replaced with modern facilities to give public schools a complete makeover.Faced with criminal charges, Rajat Singh questioned why the administration felt compelled to restrict media coverage if public school infrastructure had truly undergone a total transformation.“If they have done great work, they should invite YouTubers to the schools,” Singh stated.He further questioned whether citizens raising concerns about broken infrastructure or uncleared debris were now expected to recite a catalog of government schemes before asking questions about basic facilities.In an official statement, Singh demanded that the police and district administration clarify how documenting the poor physical state of a government school could be construed as inciting hostility between communities, and under what legal logic entering a public school premises was treated as a severe criminal offense under the invoked BNS sections.He emphasised that his intention was never to defame any official body or individual, but rather to bring to light the ground reality of basic facilities available to children attending state-run schools.“If there is garbage, debris, broken infrastructure or a lack of basic facilities in a school, the response should be to fix those problems – not to file cases against those who show them,” Singh said.The Wire dialled Mishra on his phone but he did not receive calls.