‘No clarification from government on NEET issue’ says State minister Santosh Lad

HUBBALLI : In line with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s statement urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to engage in “constructive debate” on the alleged paper leak in the NEET-UG exam paper leak, Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh Lad on Saturday said there has been no clarification from the government on the issue.

“There is no clarification from the government on the NEET issue…Rahul Gandhi asked the parliament to have a debate on it. They did not give me any opportunity…There is no democracy in the country,” said Santosh Lad.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi accused Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan of running away from his responsibilities.

“Education Minister is running away from his responsibilities…He is not ready to hear the concerns of the students…The students are looking at the MPs to raise the NEET issue…They (Central Government) are running away from a discussion on the NEET issue,” said Chaturvedi.

#WATCH | Hubballi: Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh Lad says, “There is no clarification from the government on the NEET issue…Rahul Gandhi asked the parliament to have a debate on it. They did not give any opportunity…There is no democracy in the country”

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“The INDIA Opposition bloc wants to have a constructive debate with the Government on the NEET exam and the prevailing paper leak issue. It is unfortunate that we weren’t allowed to do so in Parliament today. This is a serious concern that is causing anxiety to lakhs of families across India. We urge the Prime Minister to debate on this issue and give the students the respect they deserve,” Rahul Gandhi said in a post on ‘X’, Rahul Gandhi has said in a post on Sunday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 23 registered a criminal case over the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the the NEET-UG and UGC-NET exams by the NTA and formed special teams to probe the matter.

As per the agency’s FIR, certain “isolated incidents” occurred in a few states during the conduct of the NEET (UG) 2024 examination, which was held on May 5.

The NEET (UG) 2024 Examination was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5, 2024, at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad, with over 23 lakh candidates appearing for the examination.An unprecedented 67 candidates achieved a perfect score of 720 marks out of 720, which led to widespread protests in the country. (ANI)