Rahul Gandhi's Attack: 'Education System Has Been Rigged'

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi addressed a press conference at the Congress party headquarters on Wednesday, targeting the government over the NEET-UG paper leak issue and what he described as widespread failures in the country's education system. He said an education system once regarded as a global benchmark had now become entirely "rigged," with poor and middle-class families bearing the brunt of it.

152 Paper Leaks, 7.5 Crore Students Affected — Yet Not a Single Conviction

Citing figures, Gandhi claimed that at least 152 paper leaks had occurred in the country over the past decade, affecting close to 7.5 crore students and their families, without a single conviction to date. He suggested that if unreported incidents were factored in, the actual number could be significantly higher, adding that this had severely undermined the credibility of competitive examinations.

Financial Burden on Families: Cost Matches the Budget

Gandhi described the current examination framework as prohibitively expensive for poor and middle-class families. Drawing a stark comparison, he said that while the Centre's annual education budget stands at roughly Rs 1.4 lakh crore, students and their families spend close to Rs 1.32 lakh crore on the NEET exam alone — meaning household spending on a single exam nearly equals the government's entire education budget.

Closing Doors to Career Opportunities

Moving beyond academic concerns, Gandhi argued that the path to a secure future was being systematically shut off for young people. He pointed to a decline in manufacturing, mounting challenges for entrepreneurship, the growing impact of artificial intelligence on corporate jobs, and privatisation of the public sector, saying that career options for today's youth were shrinking steadily.

Three Key Demands

Gandhi reiterated three central demands to address students' grievances. First, he called for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, describing him as incompetent and corrupt. Second, he demanded accountability for the alleged use of force and lathicharge against protesting students, insisting that students were not the enemy but the country's future. Third, he urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to issue a public apology for the suffering and physical harm caused to students.

On His Own Injury

Referring to the injury he sustained during the protest, Gandhi said he was used to such incidents and considered it a small price to pay for expressing the will of the people, which he called his responsibility.

'Real Issues vs the Government's Distractions'

Throughout his address, Gandhi sought to draw a clear line between the real issues facing students — systemic reform, transparency and safety — and what he called the government's alleged "distractions," which he claimed were aimed at diverting attention from the core problems.

Background

The press conference comes at a time when the NEET-UG paper leak issue and police action against protesting students have dominated discussions from Parliament to the Supreme Court. The Lok Sabha recently witnessed sharp exchanges between the opposition and the government over the issue, while the Supreme Court declined to urgently hear a petition related to the police action against protesters.