Gandhi's Second 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' Rally in Dehradun

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi addressed students for nearly two hours at the Congress party's 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' (Students' Echo) event at Bannu School Ground in Dehradun on Friday. The rally marked the campaign's second major stop after Gandhi launched the initiative from Kota, Rajasthan, on June 17 to highlight concerns over examination irregularities and the pressures faced by students preparing for competitive exams.

A Father's Appeal to Parliament

The most emotional moment of the rally came when Gandhi invited Rajesh Kumar, father of NEET-UG aspirant Riya Kumari, to speak. Riya died by suicide after the National Testing Agency cancelled the NEET-UG exam in May following allegations that the paper had been leaked. Rajesh Kumar recounted that his daughter had returned home happy on the day of the exam, but grew distressed after seeing news reports of the leak. "What happened to my daughter, I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone else. Please raise this issue in Parliament so that no one else has to face this. I cannot go on living without my daughter," he said.

Responding in a post on X later that evening, Gandhi wrote in Hindi that Rajesh had been "shattered" by his loss and that the pain was not confined to a single family. "The paper leak has snatched children away from many such families," he said, adding that the examination system needed to be "rebuilt from scratch" so that children experience security rather than stress, and so that parents' sacrifices are rewarded rather than mourned.

Gandhi's Allegations Against the Examination System

During his address, Gandhi compared India's competitive examinations to a restaurant menu, telling students that "papers are available on the internet, and if you have money, you can get them." He described paper leaks as an "epidemic," claiming that 152 such incidents had occurred over the past decade, affecting roughly 7.5 crore students, without a single resulting conviction. Gandhi also displayed a chart he called the 'Paper Ka Rate' (Paper Rate Card), alleging it showed leaked papers being priced at up to Rs 40 lakh for NEET-UG in 2026 and Rs 15 lakh for the IIT-JEE in 2021. He argued that the entire chain, including coaching centres, exam centres, paper-setters, and the National Testing Agency, needed scrutiny.

Renewed Call for Pradhan's Resignation

Gandhi reiterated his demand for Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation, a position Congress has maintained since the 2024 NEET-UG controversy. Pradhan has consistently rejected the demand, telling Parliament there have been no confirmed paper leaks in the past seven years and citing National Testing Agency data showing 240 exams conducted with 4.5 crore students appearing since the agency's establishment.

Proposed Reforms

Gandhi called for cross-party political consensus on examination reform, arguing that no political party or organisation should control educational institutions. He proposed a student-centric, more flexible testing system built around secure and randomised question papers, telling the gathering that India's current examination system was outdated and needed to be reimagined.

Local Context and Political Friction

According to local reports, Gandhi began his visit by meeting the family of Amar Mehta, a Congress worker who reportedly died when an iron girder fell on him while helping set up the rally's tent. He was also presented with a traditional bhojpatra (birch bark) garland, a customary Uttarakhand gesture, during the visit. Congress workers had staged a late-night sit-in days earlier over a dispute regarding permissions for the Parade Ground venue, with the party alleging it had applied and paid fees on time while the local administration disputed the claim.

BJP's Response

The BJP has pushed back against Gandhi's framing of Uttarakhand as an epicentre of paper leaks, with the party's IT cell citing past recruitment examination irregularities under previous Congress-led state governments, including alleged issues in police sub-inspector and patwari recruitment exams. The exchange reflects the broader BJP-Congress dispute over responsibility for examination irregularities nationally, ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which began this week and where the opposition is expected to press the paper-leak issue further.