Congress targets Centre over education crisis, renews demand for Pradhan’s resignation

The Congress party on Monday mounted a fresh attack on the Narendra Modi-led government over its handling of the education sector, alleging a deepening crisis in India’s examination and higher education system and reiterating its demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Addressing a press conference, Congress leader Pawan Khera, Chairman of the AICC Media and Publicity Department, accused the BJP government of weakening educational institutions, compromising examination processes and failing the country’s youth during its 12 years in power.

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“The Modi government stands exposed by its disastrous record on education. Twelve years of blatant misrule and relentless propaganda have eaten away at the foundations of India’s education system. CBSE compromised, UGC destroyed, scientific temper diminished, NCERT textbooks coloured, VCs appointed by the RSS, student protests bulldozed, rights of SC-ST-OBC-EWS-minority youth snatched, unemployment at its peak and persistent cuts in education budget—is the story of India’s youth under the BJP,” Khera said.

Once recognised globally for producing talent through institutions such as IITs and IIMs, was now struggling to maintain the credibility of its examination system, he lamented.

“Today, the entire world is witnessing how our government cannot even conduct a board exam without corruption and loot. The BJP has put the future of India’s students on hold, leaving institutions weakened, standards compromised and millions of young people paying the price for years of deliberate neglect, propaganda and extortion,” he alleged.

Khera also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s outreach programmes aimed at students, including “Pariksha Pe Charcha” and “Exam Warriors”, arguing that they failed to address mounting concerns over examination irregularities. “While Modi ji tells the nation to hydrate in his Mann Ki Baat, Gen-Z is thirsty for justice,” he remarked.

Claiming that nearly 90 incidents of paper leaks and examination-related irregularities had affected more than nine crore students over the years, Khera accused the government of refusing to accept responsibility. “Not even a single word of responsibility has been uttered by the Prime Minister. At the least, what the Pradhan Mantri can do is to immediately remove Mantri Pradhan,” he said.

The Congress cited controversies surrounding examinations such as NEET, UGC-NET, CUET and several recruitment tests, alleging that repeated leaks, postponements and cancellations had severely eroded public trust in the system.

A major focus of the party’s criticism was the Central Board of Secondary Education’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. Khera alleged that CBSE proceeded with a nationwide rollout despite warnings raised during a trial run in January 2026, which reportedly highlighted concerns related to evaluation quality, moderation and technical reliability.

According to him, the digital evaluation system resulted in thousands of students receiving blurred, incomplete or incorrect answer-sheet scans, while many answer books had to be rescanned or manually evaluated. “This is not reform. This is institutional negligence that has put the future of lakhs of students at risk,” he said.

Khera further alleged that tender conditions for the project were progressively diluted, including reductions in scanning quality requirements and cybersecurity safeguards. He questioned the process through which the contract was awarded and demanded transparency regarding the selection of the vendor.

The Congress leader also claimed that ethical hackers and researchers had identified serious cybersecurity vulnerabilities in systems handling student data and alleged that concerns raised by experts were not adequately addressed.

Expanding his criticism to the higher education sector, Khera accused the government of weakening public universities through reduced funding, centralisation of administration, faculty shortages and political interference in appointments.

“The Modi government hollowed out the UGC by slashing direct funding and forcing public universities into loan-driven financing. Education is being pushed from a public service to commercial survival,” he said.

He also alleged that dissent on university campuses had been curtailed, citing developments at institutions such as Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University. Khera further criticised revisions to NCERT textbooks, claiming that significant historical and political content had been removed.

Raising concerns about unemployment among educated youth, he argued that a widening gap existed between educational attainment and employment opportunities, leaving many graduates facing job insecurity and underemployment.

Khera posed a series of questions to the government regarding the implementation of the CBSE digital evaluation system, modifications to tender conditions, the selection of contractors and the handling of examination-related controversies. He also sought clarity on whether the Prime Minister would intervene to restore accountability in the education sector.

“From NEET and UGC-NET to CUET and now CBSE, the Modi government has turned India’s examination system into a symbol of chaos, leaks, manipulation and institutional collapse. This is no longer an isolated failure. It is a full-scale collapse of credibility in India’s education system,” he alleged.

Reiterating the Congress party’s demand for accountability, Khera said Pradhan should step down as Education Minister, holding him responsible for what he described as one of the gravest institutional crises in the history of India’s education system.