Indian education minister quits

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Saturday called off its protest “with immediate effect” and asked supporters at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to return home.

The announcement came in a joint government-CJP press conference this evening, following the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union Education Minister. His resignation was the CJP’s core demand over the NEET paper leak.

CJP spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, flanked by Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh at the press conference, told reporters the CJP ended the protest in “good faith” that the government would keep its word on the demands.

With one demand already met, the satirical political group’s spokespersons said the government has assured them that police cases filed against students would be withdrawn, no action would be taken against them in future, and maximum compensation as per rules and regulations would be given to the families of students who died by suicide over the NEET paper leak.

“We urge all protesters to go home as the government has accepted our demands,” Saurav Das said in the presence of the two Union ministers.

Ashutosh Ranka added, “The government has accepted all our demands after 36 days of protest. We urge everyone to peacefully withdraw from the protest sites.

Our demands were not radical but basic, and the government has now accepted them.”

Policemen using loudspeakers asked the protesters to vacate Jantar Mantar in central Delhi, now that their demand has been met.

The protest that had been going on for over a month had led to dwindling crowds at nearby markets, traffic diversions and Metro station closures, reports NDTV.

“We had demanded compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of NEET victims.

The government has agreed to this, stating that an honorary compensation will be given to those families under whatever rules and regulations allow.

Apart from this, we also placed a five-point demand charter before the government, which talked about broader educational reforms and exam reforms.

We will meet the government again in about four weeks regarding that demand charter…” Saurav Das said.

Several first information reports (FIRs) have been filed against protesters across India after the July 20 ‘Chalo Sansad’ march at Jantar Mantar. The CJP said the government has agreed to withdraw the FIRs.

“Our second demand was that all the FIRs filed against the protesters, not just in Delhi but in all BJP-ruled and BJP-allied states, should be withdrawn. This was also our second demand.

The government has accepted that demand as well. Furthermore, the withdrawal will be done shortly.

The government has assured us that it will share copies of all the FIRs filed – as per our last information, 15 to 20 FIRs were filed in Delhi – and we will receive those copies within three to four days in any case.

The government has also assured that the withdrawal will be done shortly,” Saurav Das said.

He said the CJP has shared a draft in the form of a written guarantee with the government.

“The government has said it will share this with us by Tuesday. We hope that by Tuesday we will receive the government’s guarantees regarding these FIRs and any future action.”

Pradhan’s decision to resign as Union Education Minister received the BJP’s full support, with party chief Nitin Nabin crediting him as a leader who “played a pivotal role in reforming India’s education landscape and successfully implementing the landmark National Education Policy (NEP 2020), among other initiatives.”

In his resignation letter, Pradhan said, “For over four decades, I have dedicated myself to the cause of students, teachers, and educational reform.

I have always believed that a robust, inclusive, and visionary education system forms the cornerstone of a strong nation.”

“I deeply respect the aspirations, sentiments, and legitimate expectations of the country’s youth.

Realising the dreams of India’s young generation has been a moral commitment in our political and social lives.

I express my gratitude to the Honourable Prime Minister for the opportunity to serve the nation under his visionary leadership,” he said.

The CJP was created by Abhijeet Dipke, a Boston University graduate who recently returned to India to lead the protest over paper leaks.

The protest at Jantar Mantar began on June 6 and gained wider attention after Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk joined with an indefinite hunger strike on June 28, which ended on Thursday night after 26 days.