New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday described Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as the “victory of the future of India” and demanded concrete reforms in the education system.
At a press conference, the Congress leader said students had secured a major victory through their nationwide protests over the alleged NEET paper leak.
“First of all, this is the victory of our students. This is the future of India. The education system which used to be our pride, the whole world acknowledged that the education system of India is very good. It has been under attack for years. It is being captured, it is being privatized. This was a reaction to that. Pradhan is a symbol. A symbol of corruption, a symbol of destruction of the education system, a symbol of incompetence,” Rahul said.
“He had to go. And it is good that he went. But now the government will have to take concrete steps to change the education system. The RSS’s capture of the education system of India is a big issue. If it is Modi ji’s fault, then the RSS is equally at fault,” he added.
Gandhi warned the government against treating public institutions as its property. He said a failure to change course could trigger protests on a much larger scale.
Gandhi also accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of responsibility for the alleged police action against protesters during their march towards Parliament on July 20.
“We hold Mr Amit Shah directly responsible for the violence that has taken place against our students.
He authorised the shooting of our students. He authorised the use of lethal weapons, including pellet guns, against our students. For us, this is a fundamental issue. We will not accept our own forces shooting at the future of India. This will be a major issue in Parliament.”
Gandhi thanked the students and promised them continued support from himself and the Congress.
Pradhan said he resigned after considering the situation at Jantar Mantar and across India. He said the government transferred the NEET-UG probe to the CBI, cancelled the examination and announced a re-test.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke initially said the protest would continue until the Centre accepted the remaining demands. These included Rs 1 crore compensation for families of students who died by suicide and action against police personnel.
After three rounds of talks, the CJP withdrew its 36-day agitation on Sunday. The Centre accepted the remaining demands and agreed to consider the organisation’s five-point charter on examination reforms.
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