Amid outcry against alleged irregularities in the medical entrance examination NEET and also the cancellation of the UGC-NET examination, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday launched a scathing attack on the government over exam paper leaks, saying the issue has become a national problem under the BJP rule which has “ruined the future” of crores of youth.

In a post on X, Priyanka Gandhi said the Congress demands that strict action be taken over the “NEET scam” so that 24 lakh students get justice. Her statement came on the day, the CBI questioned  a man in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar in connection with the UGC-NET paper leak case

The CBI had registered an FIR into the UGC-NET paper leak case on Thursday against unidentified people on a reference from the Union Education Ministry. In another post in Hindi on X, she wrote, “In the last five years, papers of 43 recruitment exams have been leaked in the country. Paper leak has become a national problem of our country under BJP rule which has ruined the future of crores of youth so far.”

 “India is the youngest country in the world. We have the largest youth population. Instead of making these youth skilled and capable, the BJP government is making them weak,” she alleged.

 Crores of talented students study hard day and night, prepare for different exams, parents bear the burden of studies by sacrificing everything, Priyanka Gandhi said.

 “Children wait for years for a vacancy to come. When a vacancy comes, there is the cost of filling the form, the cost of going for the exam, and finally the whole effort is wasted due to corruption. The BJP’s corruption is weakening the country,” she added.   

 Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday had attacked the Centre over the alleged irregularities in NEET and exam paper leaks issue, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “psychologically collapsed” post-elections and will now struggle to run the government.

 He had also said the main reason for paper leaks was that educational institutions had been captured by the BJP and its parent organisation RSS. He asserted that paper leaks will not stop unless that is reversed.

The UGC-NET-2024 exam for the selection of junior research fellows, assistant professors and PhD scholars was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on June 18 in two shifts across the country.