Indus Valley Times

NEW DELHI, JULY 24 : The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) told the government that its demand for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was non-negotiable as its leaders held a second round of talks with Union Minister JP Nadda. The CJP, which has been spearheading the student protests at Jantar Mantar, claimed the government sought time until Saturday afternoon to respond to the demand.

The resignation of the Education Minister has been at the core of the month-long CJP protests, which descended into violence on July 20 as students attempted to march to Parliament. The CJP has warned that it would escalate the protests if Pradhan did not quit as education minister.

WHAT HAPPENED AT CJP-GOVT MEETING?

After the nearly two-hour meeting at the Constitution Club, CJP national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said the government agreed to two of their demands. The CJP has demanded Rs 1 crore compensation for the families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide and no action against the protesting students.

“The government has asked for time till tomorrow afternoon on our demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. We hope the govt will remove him soon,” Ranka told reporters.

“The government has expressed in-principle approval on the two demands of compensation (for families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide) and withdrawal of FIRs, legal cases on students,” he further said.

A third round of meeting between the CJP leaders and the government, which deputed Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh, will be held on Saturday.

Nadda, who is the Union Health Minister, said the meeting was “cordial” and did not divulge the details. Neither did he confirm if the government had accepted any demands of the CJP.

“They had three key demands and five reform suggestions for exams. We have told them that we will meet them again tomorrow afternoon,” Nadda said.

CJP protests

The student protests, in solidarity with the CJP agitation, have spread to other cities as well (Reuters)

GOVT STEPS UP EFFORTS TO DEFUSE PROTEST

The meeting came as the government stepped up efforts to defuse the protest and quell the anger of the agitating students.

Against this backdrop, the Union Cabinet approved a bill that proposes stricter punishments for those involved in exam paper leaks.

It came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a late-night selfie video, promised stricter action against paper leaks. Earlier in the day, PM Modi announced that fast-track courts would be set up to deal exclusively with paper leak cases.

Sources said the bill is likely to propose punishment of up to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 crore for those convicted in paper leak cases. Currently, the law includes a 3-5 year jail term and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.

The government also shunted out its education secretary amid the protests – the first such action since the NEET-UG paper leak fiasco in May.

Meanwhile, activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose hunger strike in support of the CJP gave momentum to the agitation, ended his fast late Thursday night.

Wangchuk, who has been on hunger strike for the past 25 days, said he received assurances from the government that no action would be taken against the student protesters.

While Friday’s meeting opens a channel of communication between the government and the CJP, it remains to be seen if it accedes to the demand of Pradhan’s resignation. All eyes will be on the crucial talks on Saturday.

-PTI