Kharge accuses BJP-RSS of promoting 'Education Mafia' amid NEET-UG 2024 controversy

NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing controversy over the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-UG 2024 exam, Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge criticized the central government, claiming that the BJP-RSS administration has promoted an "education mafia" by taking control of the entire education system.

Kharge also reiterated the demand for a re-examination of the NEET-UG.

On 'X', Kharge wrote, "The Modi Government has told the honorable Supreme Court that no paper has been leaked in NEET-UG! This blatant lie is being told to lakhs of youth. Their future is being ruined. The Ministry of Education has said that 'irregularities/cheating have taken place only in a few places.' This is misleading. The BJP-RSS has promoted the education mafia by taking control of the entire education system."

He further claimed that the Narendra Modi-led government is "bent on destroying our education system." "Be it NCERT books or leakage in exams, the Modi government is bent on destroying our education system. We reiterate our demand that: 1) NEET-UG should be conducted again. It should be conducted online in a transparent manner. 2) All paper leak scams should be thoroughly investigated under the supervision of the Supreme Court, and strict action should be taken against the culprits."

"The Modi government cannot escape from its misdeeds," Kharge added. The Central government has told the Supreme Court that, in the absence of any proof of a large-scale breach of confidentiality in the NEET-UG 2024 examination, it would not be rational to scrap the entire examination. Scrapping the NEET-UG exam held on May 5 entirely would "seriously jeopardize" the lakhs of honest candidates who attempted the question paper in 2024, said the Ministry of Education.

The Centre has filed an affidavit on a batch of petitions pending before the apex court seeking direction to recall NEET-UG 2024 results and conduct the examination afresh, alleging paper leakage and malpractices in the test held. The apex court had already refused to stay the counselling of NEET-UG 2024.

The top court will hear the cases on July 8. Responding to the petitions, the Ministry said that prayers raised in the petitions for the cancellation of the exam and the re-test based on "surmises" and "conjectures" must be rejected.

It also informed the apex court that a high-level committee has been constituted to suggest measures for effective, smooth, and transparent conduct of the examinations by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Meanwhile, NTA has also filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court opposing the cancellation of the NEET-UG exam and said that the alleged malpractices were only in Patna and Godhra centers and that the entire exam should not be cancelled based on individual instances.

The sanctity of NEET-UG cannot be impeached by sporadic instances of alleged paper leaks, which are confined to a very small number of candidates, it said. Earlier, while hearing the case, the top court told the Centre and NTA that if there is any negligence in conducting the NEET-UG exam, it should be dealt with thoroughly.

The NEET-UG examination, conducted by the NTA, is the pathway for admissions into MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is facing heat from the opposition following the irregularities during the conduct of the NEET-UG exam 2024.

An unprecedented 67 students achieved a perfect score of 720 out of 720 marks, which led to chaos and several protests across the country. The matter is in the hands of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).