The Himachal Pradesh State Committee of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) on Saturday staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office against the NEET paper leak and demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Earlier, the SFI activists took out a rally to the Deputy Commissioner’s office, raising slogans against the Central Government to express their anger over the paper leak.
SFI state secretary Sunny Seakta said that more than 20 students had died by suicide since the NEET paper leak incident and held the Union Education Minister responsible for the situation, demanding his immediate resignation on moral grounds. He added that students across the country had been protesting and demanding the minister’s resignation, but he had remained silent on the issue.
Seakta alleged that in the past 10 years, around 89 examination papers had been leaked while nearly 49 exams had to be conducted again, raising serious questions over the functioning of the Central Government. He said that the Central Government as well as the National Testing Agency (NTA) had failed to conduct examinations in a fair and transparent manner over a long period. He demanded that the NTA be disbanded immediately.
He added that the cancellation of the examinations has had a devastating impact on the candidates and their families. Due to repeated incidents of paper leak and alleged mismanagement by the NTA and the Union Ministry of Education, lakhs of students were facing severe mental distress and financial hardships. He added that students belonging to marginalised communities had been particularly affected.
The SFI also condemned Pradhan’s alleged statement referring to protesting students as “terrorists”. It said that at a time when lakhs of students and their families were suffering due to repeated irregularities, paper leaks and administrative failures, such remarks reflected the lack of accountability and empathy. It added that instead of addressing students’ concerns, the minister chose to target those demanding justice.
The SFI said that it would continue with its protest until those responsible for the paper leaks were held accountable.
