New Delhi: The Centre has ruled out the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, with senior government functionaries saying that his removal would amount to walking away from the problem rather than fixing it. “Resignation equates to running away, and running away is not a solution,” a government source said Friday.
An amendment to the existing law will be tabled Monday in Parliament, the source added, describing the government’s response to demands raised by protesting students as substantive. The source also said the measure being brought in is an amendment to the law already on the statute book and not a fresh Bill, and that its purpose is to address specific failures identified in the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA).
“Within one month all issues with NTA will be 100 percent fixed. We have drafted a list of problems, we will fix them,” the source said, adding that the government’s mandate was to solve problems. Government sources also indicated the amendment will expand the powers available to investigating agencies handling paper leak and organised cheating cases, and will strengthen enforcement provisions in the parent statute.
The parent law is the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which Parliament passed in February 2024 and which was notified later that year. It criminalised organised paper leaks, impersonation and sale of question papers for examinations conducted by the NTA, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and railway and banking recruitment boards, among other bodies.
It also provided for prison terms running into years along with heavy fines for members of organised cheating networks. Sources emphasised that the 2024 law had proved useful in the period since, and that several cheating gangs had been dismantled under its provisions.
Government sources also sought to place the legislation in a broader timeline, saying the National Policy on Education of 1986 brought under then PM Rajiv Gandhi had flagged the need for a law of this kind, but successive governments did not enact one, and that the Modi government was the first to bring such a statute.
On the agency’s record, sources claimed that of 50 examinations conducted in the recent cycle, 49 had been held without incident and one went wrong.
The government’s position was conveyed as talks with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) continued without resolution. During a two-hour meeting with Union Ministers J.P. Nadda and Jitendra Singh at Vithalbhai Patel House Friday, representatives of the CJP told the government they would not back down from their demand for Pradhan’s resignation.
The outfit has also sought a public apology from the Centre, the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and the Delhi Police Commissioner over police’s handling of protesters during the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march on 20 July.
CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said the outfit sought Rs 1 crore in compensation for families of students who died by suicide following the cancellation of the 3 May NEET-UG 2026 exam, withdrawal of FIRs against protesters booked for the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march on 20 July, and acceptance of its five-point charter on education reforms.
In a letter submitted to the government, CJP said it had consulted supporters and protesters across the country before concluding that its demands—including Pradhan’s resignation, compensation for families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide, and immunity from legal action for protesters—were non-negotiable. It warned that the agitation would intensify and spread nationwide if the demands were not accepted.
Nadda said the government had heard the CJP’s demands and would respond after considering them. He said the two sides would meet again Saturday. Friday’s was the third round of formal talks between the government and the pressure group.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)