CONGRESS Legislative Party (CLP) leader Dr Charan Das Mahant launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central Government, alleging that the paper leak crisis has now assumed the proportions of a ‘national epidemic.’ Addressing a press conference at the State Congress headquarters, Rajiv Bhawan, in Raipur, Dr Mahant claimed that since the BJP came to power at the Centre, more than 150 incidents of paper leaks have directly affected nearly 7.5 crore students and their families. He alleged that despite the large number of cases, not a single culprit has been punished. “Competitive examination aspirants study for nearly 10 hours a day for five years on average, bearing immense mental pressure and financial hardship. Their families also make enormous sacrifices. Yet, around 9 crore aspirants are forced to compete for barely 6 lakh government jobs every year,” he said. Dr Mahant said the Congress had launched a nationwide campaign against paper leaks from Kota in Rajasthan. He noted that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi later addressed the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ mega rally in Dehradun, which further strengthened the campaign against the alleged ‘paper leak mafia’ among the youth of Uttarakhand. “The movement against paper leaks is gaining momentum across the country through the NSUI, the Indian Youth Congress and Congress state units from the streets to Parliament,” he said.

 

Referring to the recent NEET controversy, Dr Mahant claimed that Surla Harika Rao, a student from Adawal in Jagdalpur, died by suicide after being distressed over her NEET-2 result. According to reports, she had secured higher marks in the cancelled NEET examination but scored lower in the re-examination, which allegedly drove her to take the extreme step, he claimed. Responding to a question on the detention of Sonam Wangchuk in Delhi, Dr Mahant said that despite Wangchuk’s presence in the national capital, no one was paying attention to him. “A scientist of his stature is suffering there. The Central Government should provide him full protection. Congress leader Pawan Khera visited him, but we do not want to politicise the issue,” he said. When asked why Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had not resigned over the paper leak issue, Dr Mahant remarked that Pradhan had reportedly been preparing to resign but was stopped from doing so. “Only he can explain the reasons whether he was prevented from resigning or whether there were other compelling circumstances,” he said. Former Ministers Dr Shiv Kumar Dahariya, Amitesh Shukla and Pankaj Sharma, State Congress Media Department Chairman Sushil Anand Shukla, Raipur City District Congress Committee President Shreekumar Shankar Menon, Raipur Rural District Congress Committee President Rajendra ‘Pappu’ Banjare, Ghanshyam Raju Tiwari, Dhananjay Singh Thakur, Surendra Verma, Akash Sharma and several other Congress leaders were present at the press conference.