Kharge says Public Examinations Amendment Bill still inadequate, seeks annual exam calendar
-Demands SC-monitored probe into action against students, targets Centre over paper leaks
– Seeks filling of vacant posts in public sector and government institutions
– Asks PM to remove Home Minister if he cannot answer questions on brutal action against students
The sundya Mail
NEW DELHI, : Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said the Public Examinations Amendment Bill remained incomplete as it lacked robust provisions to prevent paper leaks. He demanded a legally mandated annual examination calendar, a Supreme Court-monitored probe into police excesses against students, and the time-bound filling of government vacancies. He also said Home Minister Amit Shah should take responsibility for the police brutality against student protesters and resign from his post.
Participating in the debate on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge said the government had failed to incorporate key suggestions made by the Opposition in 2024, forcing it to amend the law within two years of its enactment. He said the proposed amendments still did not provide a strong mechanism to curb question paper leaks.
Kharge urged the government to introduce a legally enforceable annual calendar for all examinations to end uncertainty and delays faced by students every year. He also demanded that all vacant government posts be filled in a time-bound manner.
Kharge called for an independent probe by a high-level committee under the supervision of the Supreme Court into the police action against students during protests, saying accountability must be fixed.
Questioning the Centre over the use of force against students in Delhi, Kharge asked who authorised the use of lathis, tear gas and pellet guns against peaceful protesters, and who the plainclothes personnel involved in the action were.
He noted that over 100 students were injured, with one student on a ventilator and another facing the risk of losing eyesight. He also referred to firing on students with AK-47 gun in Bihar.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, Kharge said the country deserved answers over the brutal police action. If the Home Minister could not answer the questions, he should resign, or else the Prime Minister should remove him from office, he said.
“Who ordered the lathi-charge? Who ordered the use of tear gas? Who authorised the use of pellet guns”, he asked adding, “Who were the people in plain clothes who assaulted the students?”
Asking the government to fix accountability, he questioned: who is the Delhi Police accountable to, under whose orders does the Rapid Action Force (RAF) of the CRPF operate, and who was the ultimate authority behind this entire sequence of events?
The country wants answers to these questions, Kharge said, asserting, “If the Home Minister cannot answer them, he should resign”.
Kharge also criticised the ruling party for welcoming former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Parliament after his resignation.
On examination reforms, Kharge pointed out that more than 152 paper leak incidents had occurred over the past decade but no major accused had been punished.
He said the main accused in the 2024 NEET paper leak case had received a clean chit, while in the 2026 NEET paper leak case, the CBI’s counsel did not appear during the first hearing in a Delhi fast-track court.
He said replacing a minister alone would not reform the education system unless institutions, the National Testing Agency (NTA), the examination process and accountability mechanisms were overhauled.
Kharge said repeated postponement of examinations, delayed results and paper leaks had pushed young people into severe mental stress, with recruitment processes remaining pending for years and candidates crossing the age limit for appointment.
He stated that according to the government, conducting a re-examination was the solution to the problem of paper leaks. However, more than two lakh students were unable to appear for the re-NEET examination. He added that repeated exams imposed heavy travel and accommodation costs on economically weaker families.
Raising the issue of unemployment, Kharge cited parliamentary committee data, saying that around one million teaching posts under the Samagra Shiksha scheme were vacant. He said that taking into account vacancies in central government departments, public sector undertakings and government-aided institutions, there were over three million vacant government posts across the country.
He noted that government spending on education had declined to around three per cent of GDP against the six per cent recommended by the Kothari Commission.
Kharge further flagged that educational institutions were increasingly being staffed with people linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, including appointments of vice-chancellors, and warned this was adversely affecting higher education and the country’s knowledge ecosystem.
