New Delhi, July 25:
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Friday told the government that its demand for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation is non-negotiable and warned if it is not accepted soon, the protests would grow bigger.
CJP spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka held a twohour meeting — the third this week — with Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh at the Vithalbhai Patel House here to hammer out an amicable solution to the ongoing protests over the NEET paper leak and other irregularities in the exam system.
During the day, the government approved a draft bill to ensure stricter punishments for paper leaks, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an unprecedented midnight video message, announced that a bill containing provisions for strong action against paper leaks will be introduced in Parliament.
According to sources, the bill will amend ‘The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024’, proposing a minimum punishment of five years’ imprisonment for individuals involved in paper leaks and/or a fine. It proposes a jail term of up to 10 years and a maximum fine of Rs 10 crore in case of organised paper leaks.
After the meeting, Nadda said the government was “positive on not registering cases against those protesting peacefully at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and those who participated in the march to Parliament on July 20, 2026.”
“Besides, the government is also positively considering suitable compensation for the suicide victims of recent NEET paper leaks,” he added.
“We told the Union ministers that our demand for the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan is non-negotiable,” Das told reporters after the meeting.
After Modi’s midnight message, the CJP maintained that the “strictest action” by the government would be the removal of Pradhan and that its protest at Jantar Mantar will continue until he resigns.
In a letter to the government representatives, the CJP spelt out its stand. “We have arrived at a clear consensus that our demands — the resignation of Pradhan, Rs 1 crore compensation for NEET victims, and no legal action against protestors, are non-negotiable.”