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Informist, Thursday, Jul. 23, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – Nothing is more important than the welfare of the youth and those who try to harm their future will not be spared, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, adding that the government has decided to set up fast-track courts to ensure swift and stringent punishment for those involved in paper leaks. Modi said he has directed the authorities and officials concerned to take all necessary steps in this regard. This continued the series of steps taken for safeguarding the interests of students, he said.

 

Modi's announcement came after tens of thousands of protestors took over the heart of Lutyen's Delhi on Monday, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test examination, and breaking through police barricades to march to Parliament. According to reports, a crowd of 50,000 people, mostly young men and women, challenged security forces at dozens of locations across the New Delhi police district. Police and anti-riot forces responded with lathicharge, tear gas, and water cannon, injuring scores of protestors.    

 

The protest has continued since then, with Cockroach Janata Party spokesperson Saurav Das terming the resignation of Pradhan as "non-negotiable", adding that the protests would continue until the demand was met. Das said he had spoken to activist Sonam Wangchuk several times during the day and they agreed that the protests should remain peaceful.
 

Earlier, the National Testing Agency had announced the cancellation of the medical entrance exam conducted on May 3 after allegations of question paper leak. The government had referred the matter of the paper leak to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The matter came to light when some students found on May 1 that a Telegram channel was allegedly sharing a guess paper. An investigation by the Rajasthan Police's Special Operations Group found that the guess paper with 410 questions had about 120-140 questions matching the chemistry and biology sections of the actual question paper. 

 

Thereafter, the Cockroach Janata Party, founded by Abhijeet Dipke, morphed into a political movement, protesting against systemic youth unemployment, the country's paper-leak-ridden education system, and judicial overreach, demanding accountability and structural reforms for Indian youth. The Cockroach Janata Party and activist Sonam Wangchuk gave a call for a march to Parliament from Jantar Mantar on Monday, the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. Thousands participated in the "Sansad Chalo" march, seeking the resignation of Education Minister Pradhan. 

 

The Supreme Court had also issued notices to the National Testing Agency, the government and the Central Bureau of Investigation on petitions seeking a slew of reforms in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for medical entrance after the cancellation of this year's examination over allegations of question paper leak. The apex court said it was sad that authorities did not learn their lesson even after a committee was formed to reform the examination process.  

 

On Wednesday, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi claimed that at least 152 paper leaks had taken place in the last 10 years, with no accountability at all. Gandhi was addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters in Delhi. "152 leaks in 10 years translate to an average of one leak every month. These leaks have affected crores of our students. Yet, there has been no conviction in the cases related to paper leaks in the last 10 years," Gandhi said.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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