Targeting the Centre over the alleged NEET paper leak and irregularities, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said nearly 22 lakh students had been “cheated”, while questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the issue.
He demanded the immediate removal of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, saying if no action was taken, the Prime Minister himself should take responsibility for the controversy.
Rahul alleged that recommendations made by a committee two days before the leak were ignored by the minister, who, he claimed, dismissed the panel’s findings on the ground that Opposition members were part of it.
He further alleged a nexus involving the RSS, the BJP and universities, claiming that people aligned with them had been appointed as vice-chancellors and professors. Rahul said the education system had been weakened by a money-making network and alleged that repeated paper leaks across the country were a result of this system.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also demanded Pradhan’s resignation over the NEET paper leak controversy and the deaths of aspirants, alleging that repeated examination scams and the Centre’s “corrupt and incompetent system” had destroyed the future of lakhs of students.
Reacting to reports of students dying by suicide after the NEET-UG examination was rescheduled following a paper leak, Kharge said the Modi government’s “Amrit Kaal” had turned into “Mrit Kaal” for students preparing for competitive examinations.
In a post on X, Kharge referred to several students, including Ritik Mishra from Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, 20-year-old Anshika Pandey from Delhi, Pradeep Meghwal from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan and a Bengaluru student living in Goa, who allegedly died by suicide following the NEET controversy.
“Some had dreamed of this since childhood, some had staked everything on their family’s hopes, preparing for years. But the Modi government’s corrupt and incompetent system has trampled their dreams,” Kharge said.
The Congress president alleged that more than 90 paper leak incidents had taken place under BJP governments, affecting over 9 crore students and their families across the country.
“The fire of unemployment is already destroying the future of the youth. The BJP-protected paper leak mafia is tearing apart the government’s claims of conducting examinations in a fair and transparent manner,” he said.
“Prime Minister Modi has now started doing ‘fact checks’ himself. Yesterday, he tweeted about ‘Ease of Living’, but maintained silence on the NEET paper leak and students’ suicides,” Kharge said.
Referring to the 2024 NEET paper leak case, he alleged that officials who had come under scrutiny were neither punished nor removed permanently.
“In the 2024 NEET paper leak, the officials under scrutiny were not punished; instead, they were given plum positions. This is why the future of the youth is being looted every year,” he alleged.
Kharge further said the situation had become so serious that the Delhi Medical Association had written to the Union Education Minister over the issue.
The Congress attack came after a 20-year-old NEET aspirant allegedly died by suicide in Delhi’s Azadpur following the controversy surrounding the examination.
