Sugandha.Jha1New Delhi: Representatives of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) held a second round of talks with the Centre Friday, following which the govt sought time till Saturday afternoon to respond to their demand for Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan‘s resignation. CJP reasserted its agitation would continue till the demand was met.The meeting, held at Constitution Club, was attended by Union ministers J P Nadda and Jitendra Singh. The CJP delegation comprised spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.“We hope the govt will remove him (Pradhan) soon,” Ranka said after the meeting.At Jantar Mantar, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said Pradhan’s exit would be in the govt’s best interest. Given the anger among protesters, he said, if Pradhan doesn’t resign, demands could begin for the resignation of the PM instead, and CJP would launch an agitation bigger than the July 20 march.Das, meanwhile, said the govt was positive on two other demands. “The govt expressed in-principle approval on the two demands for Rs 1 crore compensation to each of the families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide, and withdrawal of FIRs and legal cases against students,” he said. The delegation had been invited for another round of discussions Saturday afternoon, Das added.CJP said it had submitted a memorandum to the Centre reiterating three principal demands: Pradhan’s resignation, Rs 1 crore compensation for NEET suicide victims’ families, and no action against protesters who participated in the July 20 march.Sources said 47 personnel have been terminated, not merely transferred or marked for removal. Their names, ranks and alleged ro-les were not disclosed. Cases indicating criminal wrongdoing will be referred to appropriate agencies, while departmental and legal proceedings will follow separately.The assessment and psychometrics vertical head will oversee question banks, normalisation, equating and calibration, and computer-adaptive testing and AI-assisted assessment. The test-centre operations head will supervise NTA‘s network across more than 500 cities and select overseas centres, including empanelment, capacity, accessibility, amenities, exam day operations and coordination with administrations.The information security head will serve as chief information security officer, responsible for systems, networks, applications, candidate data, a round-the-clock security operations centre and compliance with data protection, information technology and CERT-In requirements. The vigilance, investigation and forensics head will lead malpractice inquiries, build in-house digital forensics capability and coordinate with CBI, Intelligence Bureau, ED, state police forces and cybercrime units under Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.The Pratibha Setu – Professional Resource and Talent Integration Bridge for Hiring Aspirants – platform gives verified employers access to willing candidates who cleared stages of UPSC exams but were not recommended in the final merit list.Twelve positions will be in academic research, two in legal research and two in finance and accounts. The appointments will be for 24 mo-nths, and extendable to 36 mo-nths based on performance.The changes seek to reduce NTA’s dependence on temporary manpower. It has 39 sanctioned permanent posts, all on deputation, but only 24 are filled, against 73 contractual personnel and 124 outsourced workers.Further hiring will follow across 10 functional verticals recommended by the Radhakrishnan committee. NTA has also initiated fresh empanelment of subject experts and translators.The overhaul will accompany changes to exam delivery. NEET-UG will shift from OMR-based testing to computer-based testing from 2027, bringing it closer to JEE Main and CUET. The move should reduce physical movement of papers, enable multiple question sets and create a digital trail, but will require secure centres, stronger cybersecurity and safeguards against technical failures.Govt is also reviewing outsourcing in registration, centre management, technology services and handling of confidential material. The new model will define responsibility, strengthen audits and background checks, reduce agencies handling sensitive information, and impose tougher penalties for security failures.
