NEW DELHI: A delegation of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) will meet government ministers at 12.30 pm on Friday, PTI reported, citing sources, marking the first formal engagement after days of deadlock between the Centre and the student-led outfit over the alleged NEET paper leak.The meeting comes after repeated efforts by the government to initiate dialogue with the protesters. On Thursday, Union minister J P Nadda invited the CJP leadership for talks, but the offer was declined as the outfit insisted that any discussion should take place at a neutral venue near the protest site, according to PTI sources.Government sources had earlier told ANI that an offer to continue talks with the CJP leadership had also been rejected, prolonging the stalemate.CJP spokesperson Saurav Das had maintained that the group was willing to hold talks but not at a minister’s residence or office. “We refused to go to anyone’s house or office. The people’s court is here. Ministers should come among the people. If they want to talk, it should be held at the Jantar Mantar,” he had said.Das, however, said the CJP remained open to dialogue at a neutral venue if there were security concerns.The protests, centred at Jantar Mantar, have continued for nearly a month, with demonstrators demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, compensation for families of students who allegedly died by suicide over the NEET paper leak, and withdrawal of cases filed against peaceful protesters.Earlier this week, representatives of the CJP met J P Nadda and submitted their demands. According to the CJP, the Union minister assured them that the issues would be discussed at the appropriate level, ANI reported.
