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Congress MP KC Venugopal on Tuesday launched an attack against the Centre over the paper leaks, stating that the party was ready to pass the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, but the government was not sincere towards irregularities in examinations.
Addressing the Lok Sabha during the discussion on the amendment to the anti-paper leak Bill, KC Venugopal questioned the Centre over the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in the House. Pointing out discrepancies in the implementation of the 2024 Act, he alleged that the central agencies are used against political actors instead of probing paper leaks. Venugopal said, "In May 2026, the NEET-UG paper leaked. You want to give credit to Narendra Modi ji for bringing the legislation. (Is it a) Big thing? How many students shed their blood for this legislation? How much lathi-charge did you do? How many AK-47s were used? The Home Minister and Prime Minister are not ready to sit here because they have a guilty conscience in their minds. They cannot face the talks. Jitendra Singh, you are talking about this important Bill, but the Prime Minister is not ready to hear what is happening in the country, what the MPs are saying." The Congress leader also slammed Amit Shah over police action against protesters. He said, "All these atrocities happened under the Home Ministry. Delhi is a Union Territory, controlled by the Home Ministry directly. He is not here. They say 56-inch chest, even five inches not there. 22.8 lakh students were appearing in the NEET-UG paper, but it was leaked at the setting stage. CBI, ED and Income Tax agencies were powerful once upon a time; you completely misused all these agencies. The agencies only decide on searching political leaders and your political enemies." "In 2024, you brought a legislation; now again you are bringing a legislation. We are ready to pass the legislation, but if you have no sincerity to address the concerns of the students and examination failures, this legislation will serve no purpose. This is not an issue of legislation but system failure," Venugopal added. Terming the paper leaks a "crisis of hope," he said that he spoke for the students who lost their lives by suicide and parents who worked hard to educate their children. "This is not merely a discussion on a piece of legislation, but this discussion has become an emotional messaging to the youth of this country. The speaker from opposition benches has conveyed the sentiments the nation carries nowadays. I rise to speak about the dreams of India's youth, mothers who sold their jewellery to pay coaching fees, fathers who work day and night so that their children can study and students who studied for years for an examination only to discover that the question paper has been leaked. I rise to speak about the people who scored extraordinary marks but were denied opportunity because they cannot afford coaching. And most painfully, I speak about the children who reached such a state of despair that they took their own lives. This is a crisis of hope. When the government destroys the hope of the country's youth, it is not merely failing the education system but also the future of the country," he said. Presenting the data, he argued that the suicide rate among students rose by 80 per cent since 2014, calling it a state of emergency. Venugopal said, "According to the Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) report of the National Crimes Record Bureau, student suicide increased by about 80 per cent from 8068 in 2014 to 14,488 in 2026. The ADSI report captured failure in examination as a distinct category. This is the reward given by the Modi government. 21 per cent of students' suicides are due to failure in examination in the country. Is this not worrisome?" "These are not stats, but an emergency. The Education Ministry has also recognised the psychological crisis faced by the students. Manodarpan helpline launched in July 2020 to provide psychological support to students has received more than 3.32 lakh calls as of March 2026," he said. Earlier in the House, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's remarks against the newly appointed Education Minister sparked a sharp exchange, with Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and Kiren Rijiju accusing her of spreading misinformation and making personal allegations. Speaking during the discussion in the Lok Sabha, Priyanka Gandhi made remarks against the newly appointed Education Minister while targeting the government over issues related to examination irregularities and accountability. "The Prime Minister appointed a new Education Minister, a person who expressed consent and even happiness over the release of those convicted of raping a pregnant woman...," Priyanka Gandhi said. Objecting to the remarks, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi should authenticate her statements, calling them misinformation. Lok Sabha took up the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill for discussion at 2 pm today. The Bill proposes to enhance the punishment for persons resorting to unfair means by increasing the term of imprisonment to not less than five years, extendable up to ten years, as against the existing provision of imprisonment for a term of not less than three years, extendable up to five years. The maximum fine is also proposed to be enhanced from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. For organised examination-related crimes, the Amendment Bill proposes to increase the minimum term of imprisonment from five years to seven years, extendable up to ten years, while enhancing the maximum fine from Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore. The Bill also empowers the Centre to constitute a Special Task Force for probing the paper leak and examination-related offences and designate Courts of Session as Special Fast Track Courts for day-to-day trial of offences under the Act. (ANI)
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