New Delhi: The Centre on Friday held another round of talks with representatives of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) as efforts continued to resolve the ongoing protests over alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2026 examination.

The nearly two-hour meeting took place at Vithalbhai Patel House in New Delhi. The government was represented by Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh, while the CJP delegation included spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.

Three demands placed before Centre

According to the CJP, it placed three key demands before the government, with the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan remaining its primary demand.

The organisation said the government has sought time until Saturday afternoon to respond to the resignation demand.

However, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said the Centre has expressed in-principle agreement on two other demands—providing compensation to the families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide and withdrawing FIRs and legal cases registered against protesting students.

“The government has asked for time till tomorrow afternoon on our demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. We hope the government will remove him soon,” Das said, adding that the protest will continue until concrete action is taken.

Government to respond after internal discussions

Speaking after the meeting, Union Minister J.P. Nadda said the CJP had also submitted five suggestions for reforms in the examination system.

“They had three main demands and five reform suggestions for exams. We have told them that we will meet them again tomorrow afternoon and inform them about the government’s discussions,” he said.

Protest to continue

The meeting came a day after activist Sonam Wangchuk ended his 26-day hunger strike following assurances from the government on his demands.

While welcoming Wangchuk’s decision, the CJP said its protest at Jantar Mantar would continue until a decision is taken on the demand for the Education Minister’s resignation.

Friday’s discussions marked the third official meeting between the Centre and the CJP since the protests began.