New Delhi: Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday condemned the police action against students protesting over education-related issues in Delhi and demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, alleging that repeated examination paper leaks had put the future of millions of students at risk.
Addressing a press conference a day after the police action during the Parliament march, Rahul said the Congress fully supports the students’ demands and accused the government of failing to protect the integrity of the country’s education system.
He claimed that 152 examination paper leaks had taken place over the past decade, affecting nearly 7.5 crore students and their families.
Rahul alleged that despite the large number of paper leak cases, no one had been punished, saying the repeated incidents showed a failure to hold those responsible accountable.
Demanding the removal of Dharmendra Pradhan, he said the Education Minister was not fit to continue in office and accused the Centre of attempting to divert attention from the issue instead of addressing students’ concerns.
The Congress leader also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise for the police action against the protesters, saying students demonstrating for a fair education system should not be treated as extremists.
“These students are not extremists; they are our future,” Rahul said, adding that those responsible for the alleged use of force against protesters should be held accountable.
He further alleged that India’s education system had become both deeply flawed and increasingly expensive, claiming that families appearing for the NEET examination collectively spend an amount comparable to the Union government’s annual education budget.
