Students, NEET aspirants, advocates and members of various organisations staged protests in different parts of the country seeking the resignation of Union
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in the education sector, including exam paper leaks. According to PTI, demonstrations were held in Solan in Himachal Pradesh and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra, where protesters raised concerns over repeated examination controversies, the impact on students' mental health and careers, and demanded greater accountability from the government. In Solan, students associated with organisations from Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti gathered at Children's Park and raised slogans demanding Pradhan's resignation over the alleged NEET paper leak issue. Earlier in the day, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) had also organised a protest in the town, which saw participation from hundreds of youths, local residents and members of various organisations. The protesters alleged that the education system has fallen into disarray and claimed that students and young people are bearing the consequences of repeated exam-related controversies. Bhavika, a NEET aspirant who participated in the protest, criticised the recurring incidents of paper leaks and re-examinations. She said that crores of students, youth and their families have had to bear the greatest cost of such controversies. Protesters also took exception to what they described as Pradhan's silence over the reported suicides of several students following the NEET UG controversy. They further claimed that while lakhs of government posts remain vacant, recruitment processes have been delayed and irregularities continue to surface. Protesters Express Solidarity With Sonam Wangchuk Puran Chand, one of the protesters in Solan, expressed solidarity with activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is currently in Delhi, and reiterated the demand for the minister's resignation. Another aspirant, Gurpreet Singh, said that paper leaks and recruitment scams are not merely administrative failures but amount to a betrayal of the aspirations of lakhs of young people. Meanwhile, in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, students and advocates gathered at Kranti Chowk demanding accountability over alleged irregularities in the education sector. A NEET aspirant participating in the protest questioned why the government had not clarified who would be held accountable in cases of examination paper leaks. The protester also criticised the government's silence despite Wangchuk's hunger strike, saying such issues deserve a response in a democracy. Another participant said that instead of acting swiftly to remove Wangchuk from the agitation site at Jantar Mantar on Saturday, the government should have shown the same urgency in addressing concerns related to the education system. "If the system fails, the minister must resign," the protester said. Advocates participating in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar protest also condemned the police action against participants of the Cockroach Janta Party-led 'Sansad Chalo' march in New Delhi. (With inputs from PTI)
