Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has put out a post on the social media platform X laying out what he called a full price list for exam paper leaks across the country. He described it as an open auction of the future, writing that whoever has money can pick a paper off the menu, while those who only work hard end up losing their dream.
Attached to the post is what he termed a paper leak rate card, listing the amount allegedly charged for leaking papers of different exams. He presented this as a direct question mark over the credibility of the central government and the examination system.
Which exams appear on the rate card
The post names five exams from different parts of the country. It lists NEET, the medical college entrance exam, at Rs 40 lakh, IIT-JEE at Rs 15 lakh, the Uttarakhand Patwari recruitment exam at Rs 15 lakh, Bihar teacher recruitment at Rs 10 lakh, and Odisha police recruitment at Rs 25 lakh. In other words, the alleged rate card spans everything from medical education entry to state government recruitment.
According to Rahul Gandhi, families with money are able to buy the paper of their choice for their children, while lakhs of honest students who study through the night are left behind despite their effort.
Not the first time Rahul Gandhi has raised the NEET paper leak issue
This is not the first time Rahul Gandhi has targeted the government over paper leaks. He had earlier launched a direct attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the NEET paper leak, saying NEET is no longer an exam but has become an auction. He had also claimed that 89 paper leaks have taken place across the country in the last 10 years. Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly raised the issue that concrete steps are needed to restore trust in the examination system.
About Uttarakhand
The Uttarakhand Patwari recruitment exam named in the post belongs to the north Indian state of Uttarakhand. The state was formed on 9 November 2000 as India's 27th state after years of movement, and was known as Uttaranchal until 2006. In January 2007, taking local sentiment into account, its official name was changed to Uttarakhand. It shares its borders with Tibet in the north and Nepal in the east, while Himachal Pradesh lies to its west and Uttar Pradesh to its south. Gangotri and Yamunotri, the source points of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers, are also located in the state, which makes it religiously and culturally significant as well.
Public reaction
Rahul Gandhi's post drew a mixed response on social media. Several users voiced concern over paper leaks and lapses in the examination system and backed his point, while others questioned it by bringing up the record of Congress-led governments in the past. A number of users also repeated the demand for fixing accountability in the education system and strict action against the guilty.
