Paper leaks are natural under a government that resorts to vote theft, says Dr Kanhaiya Kumar
NEW DELHI — The Congress reiterated the demand to dismiss Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak and the discrepancies reported in the CBSE evaluations. The main opposition party also questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this serious issue concerning future of the youth and the education system.
The party also demanded a policy of ‘zero tolerance’ towards paper leak cases, strict action against those found responsible, and the enactment of a stringent and effective law to prevent such incidents.
Addressing a press conference here, senior party leader and in charge of the NSUI Dr Kanhaiya Kumar also questioned the intriguing silence of Prime Minister Modi on the crucial issue of paper leaks. He said, the prime minister who makes reels on ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ is surprisingly mute on repeated paper leak cases. He said, more than 80 incidents of paper leak have been reported in across the country during the Modi government’s tenure, yet the prime minister has not said anything on the issue.
Dr Kumar demanded that the prime minister must break his silence on the paper leaks, sack the education minister and must have zero tolerance against paper leaks, and also suggested making a strict law against it.
The senior Congress leader also expressed solidarity with students, youth and their parents, appealing to them against taking any desperate steps like taking their own lives for the fault of others. He stated that two youth were committing suicide every hour in India thanks to the policies of this government and a ruined education system.
Dr Kumar also condemned a section of the media for branding one of the aggrieved students who raised concerns over discrepancies in the CBSE evaluation as ‘anti-national’. He regretted that while only the prime minister and his friends and followers are considered to be patriots, those who speak in the interests of the country are damned as anti-nationals.
Targeting the Modi government over its inability to properly conduct examinations, Dr Kumar said responsibility for major entrance tests had been entrusted to the National Testing Agency, whose functioning had repeatedly come under scrutiny. He added that if the NTA was unable to conduct fair and independent examinations, it should be relieved of that responsibility.
He said that paper leak was a natural thing to happen under a government, which resorts to vote theft. He added that recurring irregularities in examinations were eroding young people’s faith in the system. He added that no society or nation could become strong without education, but alleged that the education system had been overtaken by incompetent individuals.
He also announced a helpline number – 9260030030 – for the CBSE students who have received lower-than-expected marks in On-Screen Marking and are concerned about evaluation discrepancies.
