Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
After securing the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as the Union education minister over the NEET-UG paper leak, the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has trained its guns on alleged irregularities in public services commission exams in various states. The outfit says it will also focus on issues faced by unorganised sector labour, such as gig workers on food delivery platforms.
In a conversation with INDIA TODAY at his home in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) in Maharashtra, CJP founder and convenor Abhijeet Dipke said that the CJP protest at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar drew support not just from NEET aspirants but also young Indians disillusioned over alleged irregularities in public services commission examinations.
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“The reason we are going to Bihar is that most of the crowd at Jantar Mantar was from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. The youth in these states are dependent on public services [commission exams] for their social upliftment,” said Dipke.
“These students are very frustrated. They asked us why we were speaking only about NEET and not the public services commission exams. This is a massive concern across India,” he added, stating that complaints about irregularities in public services commission exams and government recruitments had come from across states.
The CJP has announced a pan-India public outreach, ‘Kya Bolti Public’, to expand its footprint. It will involve visiting states to hear out aggrieved citizens. Dipke said the aim was to “revive the culture of public listening”, and that the CJP movement itself was born out of the culture of listening to the people.
Dipke said students from Bihar had invited the CJP to their state to address concerns around public services exams. He added that the norms for recruitment by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) had been changed around 2012, leading to higher intake of aspirants from science, mathematics and English language backgrounds. This has inconvenienced those from humanities and vernacular language education. Those preparing for UPSC examinations at coaching centres battled lodging challenges too, having to stay in dingy rooms in cities and facing harassment from landlords.
The CJP, Dipke said, would also take up the welfare of gig workers, given the heavy presence of food delivery platform workers at Jantar Mantar. “The concept of gig working is good for western countries as the society is uplifted; in India, gig working is nothing but exploitation of labour. They need a major policy reform, a safety net… They are forced to put their lives at risk for a small incentive,” he said.
Asked about the CJP’s long -term goal, Dipke said: “We want to change the political discourse.” Youth-centric issues remain the focus. “Empathy and compassion are on the decline in society. We have started becoming sadists,” he added, noting that some people had even started drawing pleasure from seeing others in trouble.
“Ours used to be an aspirational society,” said Dipke, pointing out that movements like India Against Corruption were meant to create a better nation. “That India wanted to move forward. Today’s India is just happy it is surviving. Now, citizens aren’t much aspirational,” he said, reasoning that this conditioning was pushing India behind by decades.
Abhijeet Dipke spoke at length to INDIA TODAY on the issues at hand, how the party intends to reform education and the achievements at Jantar Mantar. Excerpts:
Q. What are the CJP’s plans going ahead?
A. The issue of unemployment looms before us. The crowd at Jantar Mantar was not just made up of students, but also those from the 25- to 35- year age group. Many protesters had degrees, but lacked jobs. Most people at Jantar Mantar were from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, as the youth there are dependent on the Public Services Commission (PSC) exams for social upliftment. These students are very frustrated. They asked us why we were speaking only about NEET and not the PSC exams. Complaints about irregularities in these exams and government recruitments have come from states across India. There is anger over the quality of education and its unaffordability too.
The CJP will also take up issues related to gig workers. A large number of Swiggy and Zomato workers turned up at the protest. The concept of gig working is good for western countries; in India, gig working is nothing but exploitation of labour. They need a safety net. We will also focus on complaints over E20 blended petrol. First, we will go to every state and district, hold public meetings and understand people’s concerns and expectations from us. While interacting with the youth at Jantar Mantar, I realised that they are not taken seriously and are dismissed as a non-serious generation. They cannot be dismissed because their style of communication and lifestyle are different.
Q. Does the CJP have political plans?
A. If the people want us to, we will have to consider it, but we have no such plans as of now. The CJP is a social movement. People have lost faith in all institutions. Public representatives change loyalties soon after being elected. The courts side with the ruling party and people are upset at the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and even the media. India needs a social movement in which people can rise above political affiliations. If we convert the CJP into a political outfit, they may unleash the ED or CBI on us.
Q. What do you have to say about the charges that Left parties were spearheading the protest?
A. Student organisations across parties were involved—the National Students Union of India (NSUI), Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP) of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and those from the Left. Leftist groups are being highlighted intentionally—all Opposition parties like the Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP and AAP supported us.
Q. What about the alleged violence by protesters at Jantar Mantar?
A. Outsiders had infiltrated the protest. Officers and constables from the Delhi Police who sympathised with our cause told us that this was being done to serve as a justification for a crackdown. On July 19, a truck loaded with stones was parked, along with a broken-down van, by Delhi Police to serve as evidence of stone pelting by CJP supporters. The police claimed that 2,100 criminals were at Jantar Mantar. We were frisked while entering; why wasn’t this done for them? This was pre-planned.
Q. How do you see Sonam Wangchuk’s move to withdraw his fast?
A. We always told Sonam Sir to break his fast while we continued with our agitation. We were happy and relieved when he broke his fast. He was almost kidnapped from Jantar Mantar. Our team was not allowed to meet him. We couldn’t communicate with him.
Q. What education reforms does the CJP want to introduce?
A. Primary schooling must improve. In the last decade, around 94,000 government-run schools have shut down, which means this was meant to benefit private schools. In the US, I did not see a single coaching class. Here, a nexus between the coaching industry and private schools/ colleges is obvious.
Q. What do you think about the Union government’s Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026?
A. We are not satisfied. The focus is on what is to be done after a paper leak, which means the government takes a leak for granted. The focus must be on preventing it. Our demand for Rs 1 crore compensation for the kin of students who have died by suicide stands. The government says it will have to check rules before announcing it. The same regime cocks a snook at rules when it pays MPs/ MLAs crores for destabilising governments. We will agitate again if this is not met.
Q. What’s the biggest takeaway from the CJP protest?
A. The biggest, most significant, achievement was that repressed voices overcame their fear and found the courage to express themselves and started questioning the central government.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
