Thiruvananthapuram: Police use water cannons on KSU workers protesting over NEET paper leak

The protest was part of a nationwide agitation called by the National Students' Union of India (NSUI).

Police used water cannons to disperse KSU activists protesting and demanding the resignation of the Union Education Minister over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 examination paper leak.

This comes amidst the repeated criticism of the Centre by the opposition over the NEET paper leak.

Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, called for a nationwide "Chhatron ki Goonj" protest, whose main purpose is to highlight common issues faced by the issues of the country due to repeated paper leaks.

Earlier in the day, while addressing the student outreach program in Kota, the Congress MP emphasised that the meeting was strictly non-political. His primary objective, he stated, was to confront the harsh realities experienced by students who are "struggling to get a future."

"This evening is about you. It is about what you are facing. It is about the challenges that you're dealing with every single day."

Reflecting on insights gained during his cross-country Yatra, Gandhi questioned the structural shifts in the educational landscape, specifically highlighting the decline of the public sector and the prohibitive costs of private education. He offered a sharp critique of the current pedagogical approach.

He argued that the system "pressures, stresses, suppresses, and crushes its children," creating a high-stakes environment that has led to tragic outcomes. The LoP set a sombre, urgent goal for the dialogue: to work toward a future where no student in India feels the desperation that leads to self-harm.

A central theme of his address was the lack of vocational and creative diversity within the Indian career path. Gandhi noted that during his interactions with millions of young people, he consistently received the same five career aspirations: Engineer, Doctor, Lawyer, IAS, and Forces.

"The biggest shortcoming of our education system is that we do not fulfil our children's dreams," Gandhi remarked. He challenged the status quo, asking why the system fails to foster broader ambitions or respect the diverse, individual choices of its students. By highlighting this narrow scope, he called for a reimagining of an educational framework that empowers, rather than suppresses, the aspirations of the next generation.

The NEET-UG 2026 re-examination is scheduled to be held on June 21, following the cancellation of the May 3 exam due to paper leak controversies. (ANI)