The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Saturday called off its 36-day agitation over the NEET issue after the Centre accepted all of its key demands, including the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the withdrawal of FIRs registered against protesters.
The two sides will again meet after four weeks to work on broader reforms in the examination system, the CJP said.
The announcement came after talks between the two sides, shortly after Pradhan said on X that he had submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP MP said it was not a matter of "individual prestige" for him and that he wanted to prevent anti-national forces from exploiting the situation at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere in the country.
At a joint press conference with Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das announced that the outfit was ending its agitation after reaching an agreement with the Centre. "We declare withdrawal of our protest with immediate effect. We urge all protesters to go home as the government has accepted our demands," Das said.
"The CJP declares that we withdraw the agitation in good faith and understanding that the agreed upon terms will be executed within the agreed upon timeline," he added.
Das said the Centre had assured the CJP that "honourable compensation" would be provided to the families of students who died by suicide following the cancellation of the May 3 NEET-UG examination.
He also said the government had agreed to withdraw FIRs registered against protesters and would provide a written assurance on the agreed demands by Tuesday.
Confirming the agreement, Nadda said the discussions had covered the CJP's remaining demands, including compensation, withdrawal of FIRs and protection against any retaliatory action.
"We discussed these issues in detail. After the discussion, the first point was that no action should be taken and no FIRs should be filed. If any FIRs have already been registered, whether by the Delhi Police or in BJP-ruled states, it will be withdrawn," Nadda said.
Nadda said the government will provide to CJP copies of FIRs registered.
He added that the government had agreed, within the rules, to provide "honourable compensation" to the families of NEET suicide victims.
CJP spokesperson Ashotosh Ranka who accompanied Das, said the organisation had accepted the agreement after the Centre agreed to all of its demands. "As the government accepted all our demands after 36 days of protests, we appeal to everyone to peacefully withdraw from protest sites and go home," he said.
Ranka said the CJP and government representatives would meet again after four weeks to review the implementation of the agreement, discuss reforms in the education sector and decide the future course of action.
He added that the CJP's demands were "not radical but purely basic", and had now been accepted by the government.
Ranka said the CJP has given a five-point demand charter which talks about examination reforms. "We will meet again in four weeks with that demand charter so that we can work on broader reform," he said.
Notably, the CJP had demanded Rs 1 crore in compensation for the families of students who died by suicide following the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination, the withdrawal of FIRs against protesters, and the resignation of Pradhan as Union Education Minister.
Facing spiralling protests for his ouster over the NEET issue, Pradhan resigned on Saturday, saying it is not a matter of "individual prestige" for him and he wanted to prevent anti-national forces from exploiting the situation at Jantar Mantar and across the country.
The CJP has led a sit-in at Jantar Mantar since June 20, demanding accountability over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and irregularities in the CBSE's on-screen marking process, besides seeking wider reforms in the conduct of public examinations.
The agitation has galvanised thousands of students in protests across the country and has been supported by major opposition parties.
The protests gained momentum after police on July 18 forcibly shifted activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar since June 28, to Safdarjung Hospital.
The discontent spilt over into a massive march to Parliament on July 20, which witnessed a strong police response involving lathicharge, the use of tear gas and pellet guns.
That day, Nadda held the first formal meeting with the CJP leadership at his residence, signalling the beginning of political engagement.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)