NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Saturday alleged that the transfer of the Education Secretary amounted to “rewarding corruption instead of ensuring accountability”. He claimed that the official had been replaced by an IAS officer from the Animal Husbandry Department who faces “severe multi-crore corruption charges”.“Last night, the Education Secretary was transferred. He was replaced by an IAS officer from the Animal Husbandry Department who has severe multi-crore corruption charges against him. The entire crisis around paper leaks and NEET was about systemic corruption,” Dipke said in a post on X. Abhijeet further said that replacing one bureaucrat with another facing “serious corruption allegations” was “a direct insult to young people across India”. Questioning whether this was the “compromise” the government expected students to accept, he asserted that “this is not accountability” and said the protest would continue until Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.“Replacing one bureaucrat with another facing serious corruption allegations is a direct INSULT to young people across India. Is this the “compromise” the government expects us to accept? This is not accountability. We will not stop until Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns,” Dipke added. The Centre on Thursday carried out a major bureaucratic reshuffle, making 13 secretary-level appointments across ministries and departments, including key changes in the education ministry, amid continuing protests over the alleged NEET paper leak.Senior IAS officer Naresh Pal Gangwar has been appointed Secretary, Department of Higher Education, while T K Anil Kumar has been named Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy. According to an order issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), Gangwar, a 1994-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, will succeed Vineet Joshi as Secretary of the Department of Higher Education.The agitation over the NEET paper leak spread across several states on Friday, a day after CJP called for nationwide demonstrations. Protesters condemned the Delhi Police crackdown on July 20 and reiterated their demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.As the protests gathered momentum across states, the Congress directed its state units to organise candlelight marches and ‘satyagraha’ in every district on Saturday evening to protest against the “irregularities in the NEET and CBSE examinations and the subsequent repressive actions by the Modi government”.On Friday, a high-level meeting between leaders of CJP and senior BJP leaders, including Union Health Minister JP Nadda and Union Minister Jitendra Singh, was held at the Constitution Club in New Delhi.Earlier, activist Sonam Wangchuk ended his 26-day hunger strike at Medanta Hospital in the presence Nadda and Jitendra Singh after the Union government gave a written assurance on the NEET examination issue and broader systemic reforms to the country’s competitive examination framework.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured that strict action would be taken against those responsible for the alleged paper leaks. He also said the Union Cabinet would consider a draft Bill proposing fast-track courts and stricter punishment for offenders.
