Congress stages protests in several NE states against NEET and UGC-NET exams 'irregularities'

The Congress staged protests in several northeastern states on Friday over alleged irregularities in the NEET and UGC-NET, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and action against the guilty.

In Tripura, hundreds of Congress workers led by Congress Working Committee member Sudip Roy Barman and state President Asish Kumar Saha staged a protest in front of Congress Bhavan in the heart of the capital city and burnt an effigy of the Union Education Minister, holding him accountable for the "irregularities".

Addressing the gathering, Saha said that lakhs of students across the country are not only frustrated but they see a bleak future.

"Pradhan has admitted that there may be wrongdoings in the conduct of NEET. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been campaigning for zero tolerance against corruption, is now silent," he said and demanded to conduct both the exams afresh.

Roy Barman said that in the last few years, the country has witnessed question paper leakage 70 times but none of those guilty or the conspirators have been brought to justice.

In Nagaland, Congress leaders and workers assembled in front of the Congress Bhavan in Kohima carrying placards and banners demanding that the Centre take action against the National Testing Agency (NTA) and those responsible for alleged irregularities in the NEET and UGC-NET examinations.

State Congress unit's Public Grievance Department Co-Chairman Meshenlo Kath said that the PM Modi government would not be able to fool the people of the country for a long time.

In Arunachal Pradesh, Congress leaders and workers led by state Youth Congress President Tarh Johny staged a protest outside the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan in Itanagar demanding action against those responsible for the irregularities. He alleged that since the BJP-led NDA government came to power at the Centre, the country has been rocked by serious misdeeds in the academic sector. He said that the competitive examinations have been disrupted by technical glitches, misconduct and unfair means in certain test centres as is evident by arrests made in Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana, all BJP-ruled states.

In Manipur, state Congress President Keisham Meghachandra Singh led a similar protest against the irregularities in NEET and UGC-NET examinations at the party headquarters in Imphal.