'152 exam paper leaks in 10 years', says Rahul, slams Centre over student crisis

Amid the ongoing students' protest led by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged exam irregularities, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (July 22) alleged that as many as 152 paper leaks have taken place over the last decade, affecting nearly 7.5 crore students and their families.

Speaking to reporters, the Leader of Opposition further alleged that the Centre has failed to hold those responsible accountable.

Rahul said that repeated paper leaks have placed immense financial and emotional strain on students, adding that families of NEET aspirants alone spend around Rs. 1.32 lakh crore every year, a figure he said is nearly equal to the Union education budget of Rs. 1.4 lakh crore.

'What have students done?'

“The question is why is this happening to our students? What exactly have our students done? They have security forces aiming weapons at them. What have they done wrong? They are protesting peacefully... Children have committed suicide. Our students go through unlimited stress, and at the last minute they are told that the paper has leaked,” said Rahul.

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"The thing that is very clear to everybody is that our education system, which was known to be one of the best education systems in the world, is today a rigged system... What we do know is that 152 paper leaks have taken place over the last decade... What does the government do? Zero convictions," he added as quoted by ANI.

Rahul further alleged that the examination system had become compromised, saying, "The thing that is very clear to everybody is that our education system, which was known to be one of the best education systems in the world, is today a rigged system..."

'One leak every month'

Referring to the scale of the issue, he said, "What we do know is that 152 paper leaks have taken place over the last decade. If you do the math. So one a month approx."

He claimed the repeated leaks were forcing students to relive the stress of competitive examinations. "Every month, lakhs of students are told that all the stress that you went through you're going to have to go through again. After that they tell we really don't care..."

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Highlighting the impact on families, Rahul said, "7.5 crore students and their families are affected by this. These are middle class and poor families. They put their hard-earned money into this and then they literally spat on."

"The best part of this is zero convictions. In the last 10 years, 152 leaks have taken place and zero convictions,” he added.

Jobs under fire too

Alleging that the crisis extended beyond examinations, Rahul said, "Even after you have an education... what your country and your government owes you- a livelihood, a job, is closed."

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He argued that shrinking opportunities had left young people with few options. "The only choice they have is a Sarkari job. So you give them one door, you close all the doors, then you rig that system and make it unbelievably expensive. And then you expect they won't be outside. Which world are you living in?...,” he added

Three demands to Centre

Outlining the demands of protesting students, Rahul said, "The first demand completely legitimate demand is that Dharmendra Pradhan, who has failed as an education minister and is known to be corrupt, should be relieved of his duties."

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He also demanded accountability, saying, "Second demand is that every single person who raised a finger on our students... should be made accountable."

Calling for an apology from the government, Rahul said, "Third thing is that the man who is running this entire system, the man who is finally accountable to all this, should have the decency to apologise to the students for what has happened."

"This gentleman, Dharmendra Pradhan has literally destroyed India's biggest asset... Our education system have been wiped out and so we fully support these demands and we fully support every single student who's on the streets,” he added.