Lucknow: Hundreds of students and government job aspirants gathered at Lucknow’s Eco Garden on Friday to protest alleged irregularities in public examinations and recruitment processes, with demonstrators demanding accountability over repeated paper leaks, recruitment delays and cancelled examinations.
The protest was organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led movement that has emerged as a vocal platform for students and job seekers frustrated with what they describe as systemic failures in India’s examination and recruitment framework.
Participants included candidates preparing for a wide range of competitive examinations, including teaching, medical, administrative, revenue and other government recruitment tests. Protesters alleged that recurring paper leaks, prolonged recruitment cycles, cancellations and procedural lapses had adversely affected the careers and futures of millions of young Indians.
Leading the demonstration, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke intensified his demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, arguing that responsibility must be fixed for repeated controversies surrounding examinations.
“We have held peaceful protests in Delhi and Pune. We are not doing anything wrong. We only want to put forward our views in a democracy,” Dipke said ahead of the gathering.
The Lucknow protest is part of a broader nationwide campaign launched by the organisation. Similar demonstrations have already been held in Delhi and Pune, where participants raised concerns over examination integrity and recruitment transparency.
Police authorities confirmed that permission had been granted for the event after the necessary application process was completed. Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Babloo Kumar clarified that reports claiming permission had been denied were incorrect.
According to officials, local teacher Vivek Kumar submitted the application on Thursday evening, following which approval was granted. The protest was permitted between 10 am and 4 pm, with authorities estimating participation of around 1,000 people.
The organisation has announced plans to continue its campaign with upcoming protests in Amritsar and Bengaluru, followed by a larger mobilisation at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on June 20.
The demonstrations come amid growing nationwide concerns regarding examination management, recruitment delays and alleged paper leak incidents, issues that have increasingly become a major political and social concern among students and job aspirants across the country.
