'Students deserve answers, parliamentary debate first step': Rahul Gandhi on NEET

The INDIA bloc has intensified its criticism of the NDA government over the NEET paper leak scam, both within and outside Parliament.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav went ahead and accused the NDA government of deliberately orchestrating question paper leaks to avoid providing employment opportunities for the youth today, 2 July.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi called on the Prime Minister to engage in a constructive discussion on the NEET issue in the Lok Sabha.

Speaking during the motion of thanks for the President’s address today, Yadav challenged the government on the issue of paper leaks, asking, "Why are these paper leaks happening? The reality is that the government is behind this to shirk its responsibility of giving jobs to the youth."

As a key figure in the INDIA bloc, Yadav also expressed his staunch opposition to the Agniveer scheme, declaring, "We can never accept the Agniveer scheme. When the INDIA alliance comes to power, this scheme will be abolished."

Later, Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Modi, requesting that he himself lead a discussion on the NEET issue in Parliament. He shared the letter on social media as well, adding: "Our aim is to engage constructively in the interest of 24 lakh NEET aspirants who deserve answers."

During a discussion on the motion of thanks the day before (Monday, 1 July) as well, Gandhi had raised concerns about alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 exam.

Describing the medical undergraduate entrance exam as a "commercial exam" rather than a "professional" one, the Rae Bareli MP said, "NEET is... designed to favour affluent students." 

Gandhi added that he had spoken with numerous NEET aspirants, all of whom conveyed to him that the exam is structured to benefit affluent individuals, creating a virtual 'quota' for the wealthy and facilitating their entry into the system, rather than supporting disadvantaged students.

The NEET-UG 2024 examination for undergraduate medical programmes is currently embroiled in allegations of a question paper leak, resulting in widespread protests and a slew of petitions to the Supreme Court.

A Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is scheduled to hear a series of petitions on the NEET paper leak scam on 8 July. These petitions challenge the alleged malpractices and irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 Examination conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Following the announcement of the NEET-UG results on June 4, multiple petitions were filed. These petitions raised concerns about the fairness of the procedures adopted by the NTA, questioned the grant of grace marks to 1,563 candidates, and called for a CBI investigation into the conduct of the examination. Additionally, there was a prayer to conduct the NEET-UG afresh.

Meanwhile, the UGC-NET exam was cancelled, with the government admitting to another paper leak on the dark web.