The Narendra Modi-led NDA government is firm that Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation is not on the cards, top government sources have told NDTV even as the Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, insists that the Minister’s resignation is a must for it to call off protests.
The student protesters, camping at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and led by the CJP, have been demanding the 57-year-old Minister’s resignation over the NEET paper leak.
The sources say the government feels “resignation is the easiest decision to take”, adding that it “stands with the Minister”.
“People have given us the mandate, and we will deliver,” the government source, who did not wish to be named, told NDTV.
“The government is preparing a list of problems in the National Testing Agency, and these issues will be resolved soon. We have busted many gangs involved in paper leaks. More actions are in the pipeline,” the source added.
Earlier today, the CJP held Round 2 of talks with the Centre and reiterated its demand for Pradhan’s resignation.
The Centre has sought time till Saturday afternoon over the resignation demand, the CJP said after the meeting at the Constitution Club Of India.
At the talks, the government was represented by Union Health Minister JP Nadda and Minister of State for PMO Jitendra Singh, while the CJP was represented by its national spokesperson Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.
“The government has asked for time till tomorrow afternoon on our demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. We hope the government will remove him soon. 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,” CJP’s Ashutosh Ranka said.
The CJP agreed to the dialogue after the government reportedly accepted two of their conditional demands: that no legal action would be taken against peaceful protesters and that adequate compensation would be provided to the families of students affected by the recent exam irregularities.
Ahead of the meeting today, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke too underlined that nothing short of the resignation of the Education Minister over the NEET paper leak will do.
“If the government wants a solution to the protest, it is only the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan,”Dipke, the 30-year-old leader, had said.
The Friday meeting came hours after activist Sonam Wangchuk ended his 26-day hunger strike late on Thursday night following government assurances on his key demands.
In another outreach to protesters, the Centre has shifted Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and appointed new officials to top positions in both the school education and higher education departments.
The Ministry of Education has been at the centre of a controversy due to the NEET paper leak and alleged irregularities in the CBSE’s evaluation of board exams.
