NEET under this regime more like 'CHEAT'; why is PM Modi silent: Congress

New Delhi: Stepping up its attack on the government over the NEET exam issue, the Congress on Friday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the matter and asserted that only a Supreme Court-monitored forensic probe can safeguard the future of lakhs of young students.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that the Modi government has started "covering up the NEET scam" through Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the National Testing Agency (NTA).

"If the paper was not leaked in NEET then -- why were 13 accused arrested in Bihar due to paper leak? Did the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Patna police not expose the payment of Rs 30 lakh-Rs 50 lakh to the education mafia and organised gangs involved in the racket in exchange for papers?" he said in a post in Hindi on X.

"Has NEET-UG cheating racket not been busted in Godhra, Gujarat? In which three people are involved including a person running a coaching centre, a teacher and another person and according to Gujarat Police, transactions of more than Rs 12 crore have come to light between the accused?" Kharge said.

If according to the Modi government, no paper was leaked in NEET, then why were these arrests made, he asked.

"What conclusion is drawn from this? Was the Modi government trying to fool the people of the country earlier or now? The Modi government has crushed the aspirations of 24 lakh youth," Kharge said.

Twenty four lakh youth appear in NEET exam to become doctors, and work hard day and night for one lakh medical seats, he said.

"Out of these 1 lakh seats, around 55,000 are in government colleges where seats are reserved for SC, ST, OBC, EWS categories. This time the Modi government has misused the NTA and has massively rigged the marks and ranks, due to which the cut-off for reserved seats has also increased," the Congress chief alleged.

It appears that a game of grace marks, paper leaks and rigging was played to deprive meritorious students from getting government admission at concessional rates, Kharge said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also hit out at the government over the issue.

"As soon as the new BJP government took oath, it has again started attacking the dreams of the youth. The arrogant response of the education minister on the irregularities in the NEET exam results completely ignores the cries of 24 lakh students and their parents," she said in a post in Hindi on X.

Does the education minister not see the facts available in the public domain, she asked.

"Does the government also consider the police actions in Bihar and Gujarat and the rackets busted as false? Is it also a lie that 67 toppers got full marks? The question is, whom does the government want to save in the system by ignoring lakhs of youth and their parents?" Priyanka Gandhi said.

Shouldn't the dreams of the youth stop being sacrificed at the altar of this corrupt examination system, she asked.

"Is it not the government's responsibility to look into the complaints seriously and take action instead of ignoring the students and parents? The BJP government should abandon its ego and think seriously about the future of the youth and take measures to curb corruption in examinations," Priyanka Gandhi said.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also took a swipe at the government over the issue.

"Looks like NEET under this regime is more like CHEAT-- Central Hyped Entrance Admission Test," he said on X.

Addressing a press conference on the issue at the AICC headquarters here, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera claimed that the "NEET scam is Vyapam 2.0" and the Modi government wants to whitewash it.

The scam in Vyapam or Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board broke out in 2013, wherein candidates had bribed officials and rigged exams by deploying imposters to write their answer sheets.

Pradhan's brazen statement of calling widespread protests, multiple court cases and tremendous outrage by students as "motivated" is like rubbing salt on the wounds of 24 lakh aspirants, whose future is being destroyed by the BJP, Khera said.

"PM Modi cannot always remain a mute spectator. Why is he silent when the future of 24 lakh youngsters is at stake?" he said.

Khera asked why did the Modi government and the NTA "inflate" marks versus ranks, this year.

"The complete result of last year and this year of students scoring 580 plus should be made public by NTA if the Modi government claims that the entire examination process is transparent. The centres of students scoring 580 plus should also be made public to see how many students travelled far off from their place to take NEET exam," he said.

Khera said the board marks should also be correlated with NEET marks for last year and this year to see how much the data correlates.

"The videos of centres where there are major high scorers must be released so that this scam can be identified as OMR was filled after exam or at NTA office or some impersonation happened so that the truth comes out," he said.

Only a Supreme Court-monitored forensic probe is a solution to safeguard the future of lakhs of young students, Khera asserted.

The Centre and the NTA had on Thursday told the Supreme Court they had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.

They will have the option to either take a re-test or forgo the compensatory marks awarded to them for loss of time, the Centre had said.

Inputs from PTI