Cong protests nursing scam, demands minister’s resignation

Bhopal: Police on Monday deployed water cannons to disperse a protest by the state Congress against the alleged nursing colleges scam and NEET paper leak. Congress demanded the resignation of cabinet minister Vishwas Sarang who was formerly the minister for medical education. The protest was led by former minister PC Sharma along with Congress district and city presidents Praveen Saxena and Anokhi Mansingh Patel.
State Mahila Congress president Vibha Patel and PCC office-bearers Jitendra Mishra, Ravi Saxena also led the protest.
From the early hours on Monday, a huge police contingent was deployed near the state Congress office and outside the residence of Vishwas Sarang. While Congress opposition raised the issue of nursing colleges scam in the assembly, the district and city Congress protested on the streets. First, a sit-in demonstration was held outside the state Congress office against the education policy of the Mohan Yadav govt and the alleged corruption in the nursing colleges scam.
Later, when the protestors started marching towards the residence of minister Vishwas Sarang shouting slogans, the police stopped the agitators by blocking the roads with metal barricades. The agitators tried to break-down the barricades and police resorted to spraying water on the crowds with water cannons. Congress protestors handed over a memorandum addressed to the Bhopal Collector demanding the resignation of Vishwas Sarang.
Speaking to reporters, Praveen Saxena and Anokhi Mansingh Patel alleged that the BJP state govt is pushing the future of the youth into darkness. “The way nursing colleges scam and the NEET paper leak scams are coming to light in the state, the ugly face of the education mafia has been exposed. The nursing scam happened to benefit the concerned minister and a few officials. The nursing colleges scam amounts to corruption of crores of rupees,” Praveen Saxena said.
“This scam is just like Vyapam. Hundreds of nursing colleges are running without permission. Names of big officials have come to light in the scam. But the govt is silent. The govt should not play with the future of the youth and immediately dismiss the then medical education minister from his post,” Saxena said.