Opposition says shuffling bureaucrats no solution

NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing NEET medical entrance exam row, the Opposition has sharpened its attack against the Modi government with the Congress slamming the government over the bureaucratic reshuffle in the National Testing Agency (NTA) after alleged irregularities in NEET-UG, saying the buck stops at the doorstep of the top echelons of the regime. The Congress was joined by the DMK, NCP(Sharatchandra Pawar) and AIMIM in demanding justice for the millions of students.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday alleged that the NTA was projected to be an autonomous body, but in reality was made to serve the “devious interests” of the BJP/RSS.

“In the NEET Scam, the buck stops at the doorstep of the top echelons of the Modi Government. Shuffling the bureaucrats is no solution to the endemic problem in the Education system rotted by the BJP,” he said in a post on X. For students to get justice, Modi government must be held accountable, he said.

The Centre on Saturday had shunted out NTA’s Director General Subodh Singh and handed over the probe into the irregularities in medical entrance exam NEET-UG to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Education Ministry has also set up a seven-member panel headed by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan to review the agency’s functioning and recommend exam reforms. It also postponed the NEET-PG entrance, the fourth entrance exam to be impacted in recent days. Kharge said the NEET-PG Exam has been postponed and in all four examinations have been either cancelled or postponed in the past 10 days. “Paper Leaks, Corruption, Irregularities and Education Mafia has infiltrated our Education system,” he alleged.

“This belated whitewashing exercise is of no consequence as countless youth continue to suffer,” Kharge said.

Criticising the postponement of the NEET PG exam, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi charged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “helpless” before the paper leak racket and “education mafia”.

“Now NEET PG has been postponed. This is another unfortunate example of the ruined education system under Narendra Modi’s rule. In BJP rule, students are not forced to study to save their careers, but are forced to fight with the government to save their future. Now it is clear, after silently watching the spectacle every time, Modi is helpless before the paper leak racket and Education Mafia,” he said in a post in Hindi on X.

“Narendra Modi’s incompetent government is the biggest threat to the future of students and we must save the future of the country from it,” he added.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also attacked the Modi government over the alleged irregularities, alleging that it has handed over the entire education system to the “mafia” and the “corrupt”.

In a post on X, she said the NEET-UG question paper was “leaked” while the NEET-PG, UGC-NET and CSIR-NET exams were “cancelled”. She said the NEET-UG question paper was “leaked” while the NEET-PG, UGC-NET and CSIR-NET exams were “cancelled”.

“This is the condition of some of the biggest examinations in the country today. Under the BJP’s rule, the entire education system has been handed over to the mafia and the corrupt,” the Congress general secretary said in her post in Hindi.

“The political stubbornness and arrogance of handing over the country’s education and the future of children to greedy and sycophantic incompetent people has made paper leaks, cancellation of exams, disappearance of education from campuses and political hooliganism the identity of our education system,” she said.

The situation has become such that the BJP government cannot even conduct one examination in a fair manner, Priyanka Gandhi alleged.

“Today, the BJP government has become the single biggest hurdle for the future of the youth. The capable youth of the country are wasting their precious time and energy in fighting the corruption of the BJP and the helpless Modi ji is just being a spectator,” she said.

Earlier, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said: “No day is complete without news of cancellation of an exam because of the total incompetence of the non- biological PM and the people around him”.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi hit out at PM Modi over the postponement of the NEET-PG, saying it was yet “another unfortunate example that the education system has been ruined”.

The Union Health Ministry said on Saturday that it has decided to postpone the NEET-PG entrance examination, scheduled to be held on June 23, as a “precautionary measure” in the wake of recent allegations on the integrity of certain competitive exams.

In a post in Hindi on ‘X’, Gandhi said: “Now NEET-PG is also postponed. This is another unfortunate example of the education system that has been ruined under the rule of Narendra Modi.”

Under the BJP’s rule, instead of building their careers by studying, students are forced to fight the government to save their future, he said.

On Friday, the June edition of the Joint Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (CSIR-UGC-NET) was postponed due to unavoidable circumstances and logistic issues. On Wednesday, UGC-NET was cancelled following inputs that the exam’s integrity was compromised.

Opposition parties have also claimed irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG, the results of which were announced by NTA on June 4. A probe into the alleged irregularities in this exam has been handed over to CBI.

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) has claimed that postponement of the NEET-PG entrance exam is a “failure” of the Centre and accused the government of playing with the lives of aspirants.

The Opposition party also demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the “mess and malpractices” in the examination process.

“Due to the inability to do their job, the government is playing with the lives and future of children,” NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) national spokesperson Clyde Crasto claimed in a statement.

In Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said the cancellation of NEET-PG examination and the UGC-NET were not one-off events “but the final nails in the coffin of an incompetent and broken system of centralised selection.”

Stalin, whose party the DMK is opposed to NEET on grounds of social justice among others, called for joint efforts to ensure making school education the base for careers. The cancellation of NEET-PG and UGC-NET, has thrown thousands of our doctors into “deep despair.”

“As this scam unravels, let us plan for a better future and join our hands for building a fair and equitable selection process for professional courses, ensuring the primacy of school education and making it the base for careers (and) restoring the rights of States to determine their selection process for professional courses,” he said.

All should join hands, “most importantly, for reinstalling hope and faith in the minds of our students and their families,” the ruling DMK chief added.

In Hyderabad, the NDA government at the Centre came under fire from AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi who claimed that youth of the country deserve an apology from PM Modi and “justice” from the government.

Taking a dig at the government, he said “exam warrior” Modi waged a war on the future of the youth.

“First it was NEET UG (~23 lakh students), then UGC-NET (~9 lakh students). Then CSIR-NET was cancelled (~2 lakh students). NEET-PG (~2 lakh) was cancelled a night before the exam. The responsibility lies with Modi & his ministers. Our youth deserve an apology from the PM & justice from his govt,” Owaisi said on X.