'From the streets to Parliament, we are standing with you': Rahul Gandhi meets NEET aspirants

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday criticised the Centre over irregularities in the NEET medical entrance exam. He has pledged to raise this issue personally in Parliament. Rahul shared a video of a meeting with NEET aspirants and their parents, highlighting their grievances over the NEET-UG 2024 exam. The opposition plans to pressure the government to secure justice for students affected by the controversy.
Rahul said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers' 'incompetence' has put the future of lakhs of students in jeopardy.He posted, “Met and interacted with students who were harassed by paper leak and cheating in NEET exam. This is the biggest injustice to the aspirations of 24 lakh youth, their parents, who have been working hard for their goal for years.”
Rahul reiterated that this situation has led to a significant loss of precious time for children, a financial burden from the expenses incurred during exam preparations, and has adversely impacted the mental health of ambitious youth in the country. Rahul, a former Congress president, assured the affected students of his support.
"I assure the youth of the country that I stand with them against injustice. The Congress party will protest against paper leak and cheating in the exam across the country in the coming days and will ensure justice for them,” Rahul said.
In the shared video, Rahul directly addressed the issues faced by NEET aspirants. “I want to speak with 24 lakh students who have suffered due to the NEET paper leak. From the streets to Parliament, we are standing with you. I want to say to 24 lakh students that you are not alone. In the last seven years, there have been 70 paper leaks and two crore youth have lost out due to it. We will fight this fight together and win it,” he added.

During the interaction, students narrated their hardships to Rahul, who reassured them of support and action. One student noted that UGC-NET had been canceled by the education ministry and that the Supreme Court had acknowledged the NEET issues.
Rahul said, "Both institutions will decide on it when you put pressure. If you apply pressure in the right manner, don't back down and if a lot of students stand together then both institutions will cancel it.”
Towards the end of the video, Rahul promised ongoing support from the opposition. "I will raise this issue of yours personally in Parliament and we will put full pressure on the government," he stated.
On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to postpone the NEET-UG counseling process, which is set to begin on July 6. The Court noted that the issue isn't an 'open and shut' case but did not provide additional details.
Despite the ongoing political debate, the National Testing Agency (NTA) is preparing to conduct a retest for 1,563 candidates affected by the earlier issues in the exam, initially compensated with grace marks for lost time at six centers.
Meanwhile, Congress party has organised protests nationwide, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged irregularities in NEET and UGC-NET exams. The protests are part of the broader effort to call attention to the grievances faced by students and ensure corrective measures are taken.