New Delhi: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has demanded compensation of ₹1 crore for families of students who allegedly died by suicide amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and the subsequent re-examination process.
In an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said the families of affected students are facing both emotional and financial distress following the deaths of several aspirants. According to Dipke, 11 NEET aspirants died by suicide during the past week, including five deaths reported within a span of 48 hours.
“We demand that your administration release a compensation amount of one crore rupees to all families who have suffered from a suicide due to the compounding crisis of paper leaks,” Dipke wrote in the letter. He argued that many families had invested heavily in their children’s education, often through loans, in the hope of securing a better future.
“In pursuit of a better future, many had taken out massive educational loans to support their children’s dreams, that were cruelly shattered by systemic failures,” Dipke stated in his letter posted on his X handle.
The CJP has been demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in national examinations. Dipke said students were seeking accountability from authorities in the wake of the controversy.
“All that we students want is to see some accountability for the loss of lives,” he said.
“Holding leadership accountable is a vital step toward restoring the faith of millions of students and parents in our educational framework. If swift and decisive action is not taken to address these systemic failures and change the leadership responsible for them, it inadvertently sends a message that the administration accepts the status quo,” the letter added.
The appeal comes amid reports of student suicides from several states following the cancellation of the NEET examination conducted on May 3. The examination was scrapped after allegations of a question paper leak surfaced, prompting authorities to schedule a fresh test on June 21.
More than 2.27 million candidates had appeared for the examination across 551 cities before it was cancelled.
As preparations for the re-examination continue and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probes the alleged leak, reports of student deaths from Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Karnataka have intensified concerns over the mental health impact of the crisis.
Among the recent cases, a 23-year-old NEET aspirant in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, reportedly died by suicide on Tuesday. According to media reports, she had been preparing for the re-examination and had an outstanding academic record, including scoring 96.7 per cent in Class 12 and later becoming a college topper.
In another incident, a 17-year-old student preparing for the NEET re-test died after allegedly falling from the sixth floor of a residential building in Ahmedabad’s New Ranip area early on Wednesday, police said.
The controversy surrounding NEET has triggered widespread debate over examination security, student welfare and accountability within India’s education system, with student groups and activists continuing to press for reforms.
