The suicide of a NEET student in Nagpur, Maharashtra has added to the ongoing backlash over paper leaks and exam cancellations. Several opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal, turned weapons on the government over the student’s suicide, blaming the “corrupt system”. The Trinamool Congress also criticized the Center over the incident.
In his latest attack on the Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi referred to the case of a NEET student from Nagpur who died by suicide 14 days ago. The student’s family discovered a letter she left behind after returning to her hometown in Madhya Pradesh. “I had high hopes of getting good grades in NEET, but now there is no guarantee that I will do well if I have to take the paper again. I’m sorry mom and dad. I’ve ruined everything,” the girl wrote in the note.
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The girl, from Mojang district in Madhya Pradesh, lived in Nagpur, where her father works as a cook. The family returned to their village in Mojang district to perform their last rites and later found the note in one of their books.
Speaking to X, Rahul blamed the Center for the candidate’s death and said it was a result of a corrupt and broken system run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He added that despite the repeated leaks of exams and the resulting chaos, the Minister of Education remains in his position.
“…and Dharmendra Pradhan ji? Still on his chair today. Same committee, same transfers, same investigations. No reforms, no justice. Modi ji, power is not permanent – it comes and goes. But to what extent you have destroyed the education system in 12 years, an entire generation of Indian youth is paying the price for it,” Rahul wrote.
Kejriwal calls for an end to the “Shiksha mafia”
Without naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said students who lost their lives amid repeated examination cancellations and controversies over paper leakage deserve justice, which can only be ensured by dismantling the ‘shiksha mafia’ operating in the country.
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“Having the exam again is not justice. The education mafia that has taken over the system must be eliminated. Many children have already died due to suicide. When will these children get justice for their deaths?” Kejriwal said in a post on X.
TMC targets Center over aspirant’s death
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) also expressed its condolences over the death of a NEET student from Nagpur and blamed the Center for the distress caused by repeated examination violations.
“An ambitious young man is gone, leaving behind broken dreams and a grieving family. But how many tragedies will it take for Narendra Modi to wake up? A government that cannot protect the integrity of examinations is failing its youth,” the party said in a post on X.
