Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday blamed the “capture of institutions” by the “BJP and its parent organisation” for the paper leak “endemic” — the latest affecting the UGC-NET.
Rahul said he saw no “capability of a response” from the government in the face of protests by affected students across the country.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been “crippled” and “psychologically broken” by the election results. On Modi’s silence on the controversies swirling around the NEET and the NET, he said the Prime Minister was more preoccupied with the Speaker’s election.
Briefing the media on the latest paper leak relating to the UGC-NET — which comes on the heels of a controversy over the NEET-UG — Rahul referred to the furore over these exams to flag the appointments made to academic institutions by the Modi government over the past decade.
“They are selected not because of merit but because they belong to a particular organisation. This organisation and the BJP have penetrated our education system and destroyed it,” Rahul said.
Rahul said: "What was done by Narendra Modi to the economy with the demonetisation has now been done to the education system.
"Youngsters, I want you to know that the reason this is happening and the reason you are suffering is because an independent objective education system has been demolished and replaced by an education system captured by the BJP and their parent organisation.
"And until this capture is released you are going to suffer, you are going to see cancellation of your exams, you are going to see paper leaks again and again and again."
Rahul said the NEET-NET saga was a continuation of the Vyapam scam — the recruitment scandal in Madhya Pradesh in 2013 on the watch of a BJP government led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan. "What we are seeing is the expansion of the idea of Vyapam across the country."
The Congress MP has been talking about the problem of paper leaks for months now, having cottoned on to the problem during conversations with youngsters during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra earlier this year. He referred to it often in the election campaign and the issue was mentioned in the Congress manifesto too.
The BJP did not have a response to the substantive issues raised by Rahul and others in the Opposition, but accused the Congress leader of playing "petty politics" over the issue.
"Rahul Gandhi is trying to prove that he is bigger than the Supreme Court and resorting to what he does best: petty politics," BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said.
He underlined that the NEET controversy was before the Supreme Court and that the central government was sensitive and committed to complying with the apex court's directives.
Trivedi claimed the cancellation of the UGC-NET was proof of the government’s sensitivity. "The moment the government learnt about some compromise in the NET, the exam was not only cancelled but the matter referred to the CBI," Trivedi said, slamming the "record paper leaks" under a Congress government in Rajasthan.
