Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday responded to the Opposition's attack over the NEET row and demands of his resignation, saying he is on the post "at the mercy of my leader" and that the government is "collectively answerable".
This came after, the Opposition, on the first day of the monsoon session, tore into the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the Lok Sabha over the NEET controversy, with Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi along with Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav demanding the Education Minister's resignation.
Slamming the government over the handling of competitive exams, Congress leader Gandhi said the education minister had blamed everybody but himself over the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG exam.
"It's obvious to the whole country that there is a very serious problem in our examination system. The minister has blamed everybody except himself. I don't even think he understands the fundamentals of what is going on here," Gandhi said.
Asking the government about the steps taken to fix the issue at a systemic level, the Congress MP said, "This issue is there are millions are students in this country who are extremely concerned at what is going on and who are convinced that the Indian examination system is a fraud. That is what is at stake here. Millions of people believe that if you are rich, you can buy the Indian examination system. This is the same feeling people in the Opposition have."
Hitting back, Pradhan said he held the post (of education minister) “at the mercy of my leader” and that the government was “collectively answerable”. He also asserted that he has the support of the people in his constituency and does not need a certification of intelligence from anyone in Parliament.
“A lie will not become the truth just by shouting. The fact that the leader of the Opposition says that the country’s examination system is rubbish is highly condemnable,” Pradhan said.
Stressing that "no evidence of the paper leak" was found in the last seven years, the Minister said, This (NEET) matter is going on before the Supreme Court. I can say with full responsibility that more than 240 exams have been conducted successfully by the NTA (National Testing Agency)…. Better to wait and watch the Supreme Court’s judgment. The government has nothing to hide, and has put out all facts."
He also took a swipe at the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and said, "In 2010, three Bills for education reforms had been introduced by their minister Kapil Sibal. One of them was to prohibit unfair practices. What was their problem? Under whose pressure was that Bill withdrawn? Was it due to the pressure of private medical colleges? And they are asking us questions."
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government's response to alleged paper leaks in competitive exams and said this government will create new records in paper leaks.
"Students across the country are protesting. The investigation is leading to revelations, arrests are being made. I have only one request, students will not get justice if this minister continues," he said.
In response, Pradhan said, "I don't want to do politics, but I have a list of how many paper leaks happened when Akhilesh Yadav was in charge (as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister)."