Bhubaneswar: Odisha Pradesh Student Congress Wednesday staged a massive torchlight rally protesting alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination and demanded resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Led by Pradesh Student Congress leader Bibhuti Bhushan Mohapatra, the rally began from Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) office and proceeded towards BJP state headquarters. However, police stopped the protesters near Bandadurga Temple, leading to a scuffle between police personnel and Student Congress workers that reportedly continued for nearly an hour.
During protest, effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan were burnt.
Addressing media, Mohapatra alleged that the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination had adversely affected nearly 2.2 million students. He claimed that during the last 10 years of the Modi government, question papers of around 90 major examinations had been leaked, impacting nearly 65 million students directly and indirectly.
The Student Congress also alleged that several recruitment examinations for approximately one lakh jobs witnessed question paper leaks over the last five to seven years, affecting nearly 14 million aspirants.
Mohapatra accused the National Testing Agency (NTA) of gross mismanagement and termed it a “broker institution,” demanding that the agency be dismantled. He further alleged that irregularities in the NEET-UG examination had shattered students’ futures and called for a fair investigation into the matter, including a probe against the Union Education Minister.
The organisation also demanded compensation of at least Rs 5 crore for the families of students who allegedly died by suicide due to stress arising from the examination controversy.
Earlier in the day, Mohapatra and Student Congress leader Spandan Swain addressed a press conference at the OPCC office, strongly criticising the Union Education Minister for alleged negligence and demanding his resignation on moral grounds.
Mohapatra stated that under the leadership of National NSUI president Vinod Jakhar and guidance of OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das, the Student Congress would continue its agitation against the alleged NEET irregularities.
Several leaders of Congress and Student Congress, including Lipika Patra, Niajul Islam, Suraj Rout, Chittaranjan Nayak, Santosh Singh Saluja, Sujit Padhi, Aravind Das, Manoranjan Dash, Abhilash Mania, Tarun Mishra, Bankanidhi Behera, Siddharth Rautray and Biswajit Mohanty, participated in the protest.