Pradhan won’t quit, decides govt; resignation no solution: sources

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is not going to resign, according to Central government sources. The decision has been taken after an extended meeting held by JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh with the leaders of the ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ (CJP).

At the conclusion of meeting, Nadda and Singh requested the CJP leaders for 24 hours to respond on their demand for the resignation of Pradhan. However, sources suggest that the education minister is unlikely to step down.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, the Modi government agreed to some of the demands made by the protesting students. There are indications that the government is considering providing financial assistance or compensation to the families of students who committed suicide due to the NEET incident.

The CJP is protesting at Jantar Mantar for over a month now against NEET exam paper leaks and corruption. Environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk later joined the protest led by CJP founder Abhijit Deepak. On Friday, during a two-hour-long meeting with Union ministers at flat number 504 of VP House in Delhi, CJP representatives raised many an objection.

After the meeting, Ashutosh Ranka, the national spokesperson for the CJP, stated that they discussed three main demands and five proposals for educational reform. Among these, they received support for the demand to offer compensation to the families of the deceased students and to halt police violence against the protesters. However, their primary and non-negotiable demand is the resignation of the education minister. The Central authorities have requested until Saturday afternoon to make a decision on this matter.