Minutes before Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his reply on the motion of thanks to the President’s address on Tuesday, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi challenged Modi to a debate on the NEET issue the next day in the floor of the Lok Sabha.
Rahul, who had on Monday during his speech visibly rattled the Treasury benches, declaring that the PM and the RSS-BJP combine did not represent the entire Hindu society, expressed confidence that the PM would accept the challenge.
“Our students deserve answers. A parliamentary debate is the first step towards rebuilding and restoring their faith. Given the urgency of the matter, I request the government to facilitate a debate in the House tomorrow. I believe that it would be fitting if you were to lead this debate in the interest of the students,” Rahul wrote to the PM in a letter, which the Congress MP from Rae Bareli shared on his ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) handle.
Rahul said the NEET paper leak scam had exposed the deep rot in the higher education system and deserves immediate attention.
“The past seven years have seen over 70 paper leaks, affecting over two crore students. The government’s move to postpone other examinations and replace the Director General of the National Testing agency is a move to cover up the systemic breakdown of our centralized testing system,” Rahul wrote.
Rahul reminded Modi that the Opposition’s demand for a debate on the NEET debacle on both Houses of Parliament on 28 June was turned down.
“Yesterday, the Opposition had requested for a discussion on this issue again. The honourable Speaker of the Lok Sabha had given assurance to the opposition that he would discuss the matter with the government,” Rahul wrote.
Rahul said the Opposition’s only concern was the welfare of the nearly 24 lakh NEET aspirants across the country.
“Our aim is to engage constructively to find a way forward… Lakhs of families have made tremendous personal sacrifices to support their children. For many, the paper leak is a betrayal of a lifetime dream,” Rahul wrote. “Today these students and their families are looking up to us, their public representatives to take bold and decisive steps to resolve the issue.”
