A day after the dramatic protest near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence in the national capital, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday claimed that the education system in India was “in tatters”. He added that the students belonging to lower and middle-class families were losing out because of the “broken” system.
Speaking at a press conference at the Congress headquarters, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the education system has been “rigged” under the current dispensation.
“At least 152 paper leaks have happened in the past 10 years. About 7.5 crore students and families have been affected because of this, but there has not been a single conviction,” he said.
Supporting the ongoing students’ protest in Delhi, he stated that the country’s youth is fighting for a fair and legitimate reason, but the government was using force to browbeat and crush them.
“Their demands are completely legitimate,” he stated.
Targeting Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Rahul Gandhi called him “corrupt and incompetent,” and demanded that he must step down from his position.
Putting forward his three demands, Rahul Gandhi said, “Dharmendra Pradhan must be relieved of his duties because of his ineptness and incompetency.”
His second demand required the government to fix the accountability and culpability for those behind lapses in the NEET examinations and, lastly, an apology from the top person (Prime Minister) “behind the entire mess”.
On his detention by security forces, Rahul Gandhi said, “How I was treated is an irrelevant issue to me. I don’t care. Treat me five times worse, I don’t care. The focus has to be on what is done to the students. The focus has to be on the education system, on paper leaks, and on the cost that these children have been forced to pay. So do whatever you want to me. Five times, ten times. I don’t care. In fact, I like it because I learn from it.”
He added, “I don’t care about government’s allegations. Government’s allegations have no consequence to me.”