'Pressure from private medical colleges?': Dharmendra Pradhan's sharp counter after Rahul Gandhi calls examination system 'fraud'

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday hit back at the Congress, saying it did not bring out a law to curb irregularities under pressure from private medical institutions. He was responding to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi's question on the NEET controversy. 

During the Question Hour, Rahul Gandhi said millions of students in the country are convinced that the Indian examination system is a fraud. "Millions believe that if you are rich, you can buy the examination system. This is the same feeling we have in the opposition. What are you doing to fix the systematic issue?" 

Responding to him, the education minister said Gandhi's statement that the examination system is a fraud is "unfortunate". He then attacked the Congress-led UPA government for failing to bring a law to curb cheating in the examination. "Those who ran the government by remote control brought three bills. Kapil Sibal brought those bills. Of these, one bill was Prohibition of Unfair Practice Bill 2010, whose aim was to prevent malpractice in the examination." 

It is our government's strength that we made an act to curb irregularities in the examination, he said. "What was Congress' compulsion that it did not bring out that law...was it under pressure from private medical college...their bribes...they can not hear the truth," the minister said. 

In 2010, Congress brought out that bill but did not go ahead with it under pressure, he claimed. "And they are questioning us." 

Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav also flagged some centres where more than 2,000 students have passed. He said as long as Pradhan is there as Education Minister, the students will not get justice.

Akhilesh Yadav suggested some irregularities in Gujarat, where over 240 candidates who appeared for the medical entrance test at a centre in Rajkot scored more than 600 marks, with 11 of them getting 700 and above, and one a perfect 720.

To this, Pradhan said the Supreme Court had directed to post the entire NEET results on the website. He said the results of all candidates are available in the public domain. The minister said that the results also show candidates from Kerala have also done well. "Will you say some irregularities have happened in Kerala too?" he asked Yadav.