THE Monsoon Session of Parliament began on July 20 with massive Opposition uproar in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over the NEET-UG exam paper leaks, student protests at Jantar Mantar, and irregularities regarding Ayodhya temple donations. Repeated daily adjournments persisted as Opposition parties pushed for accountability regarding police action on student marchers and demanded strict measures within the education sector. Mounting pressure over exam protests led to the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on July 25, shifting the political landscape heading into the second week. On July 27, proceedings resumed with the introduction of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill 2026 by Union Minister Jitendra Singh in the Lok Sabha. The Bill proposes strict penalties up to Rs 10 crore and fast-track courts to combat organised cheating networks, even as Opposition benches continued sloganeering over security force actions against student demonstrators during the Cockroach Janta Party-led movement.

The Lok Sabha debated the Bill on July 28. Speaking on this Bill, S Venkatesan said the cockroaches, birthed from the ugly mindset of a judge coupled with the autocratic mindset of the ruling party. The pride of the Jantar Mantar protest lies in forcing Narendra Modi — who had bowed down to only US President Donald Trump during his 12 long years as the prime minister — to bow down before students for the very first time. Have you witnessed the irony of history, prime minister? All Opposition leaders asked you to come to this House and answer to the nation. He did not come back then. Do you know what has happened today? One lakh memes created by children have pierced right through. With no other choice, the prime minister posts a selfie video at 12 midnight. Not only that, he tells other ministers to learn how to post reels!  What a massive fall you are experiencing! The intensity of this protest was far greater than their demands or their leaders. The resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan is not that significant as he has merely saved the prime minister. He says he is resigning out of respect for the students’ sentiments. The question paper leaked on May 3 — where was he for 83 days? Over the last 10 years, question papers have been leaked nearly 152 times. Seventy-five million students have been affected. If not a single person is punished for such a massive crime, he has submitted his resignation letter without even the slightest sense of guilt. He submitted the resignation without even using the word “apology”.  This is mere deception. While tabling this Bill, the minister said it is meant to conduct the NEET exam without malpractices. NEET itself is a fraud. It must be completely abolished. NEET is not an exam; it is a business. Today, its market value is Rs 60,000 crore, and in a few years, it will reach nearly Rs 1,00,000 crore. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has turned into a haven for coaching mafias. You created the NTA. You framed the 2024 Act. And now, you are bringing this Amendment Bill as well. What is the use of creating all of this? NEET destroys students' self-confidence and pushes them to suicide. Therefore, abandon NEET! Abandon the New Education Policy (NEP)! Abandon the policy of corporate-driven education!

The Justice Rajan Committee set up by the Tamil Nadu government released crucial statistics. We submit that committee's report to this House. I bring your attention to the important statistics of that committee: In 2010, before NEET was introduced, 2,330 students from the State Board stream joined medical education, whereas only 14 students joined from the CBSE stream. However, after NEET was introduced, in 2020, 1,604 students from CBSE joined medical education. Before NEET, 65% of rural students entered medical colleges; today, that has reduced to just 49%.

A very, very crucial point must be stated here. This protest has drawn massive attention towards entrance examinations. What lies behind it is not an administrative issue, but a political question. That is why this protest is vital. As per your usual habit, you did everything you could to crush this protest. You used every label — ‘foreign conspiracy’, ‘foreign funding’, and ‘urban Naxal’. But none of it worked there. In fact, let me remind you of what Abhijeet Dipke said here: “If my name were Khalida, or if I were a Muslim, I would be in jail right now.” That is the truth. That is an illustration of how disgustingly you handle protests. From this House, we wholeheartedly congratulate every student who protested. Furthermore, we commend all left-wing student organisations, including the SFI, which connected educational campuses across India with Jantar Mantar. The home minister must answer for the brutal repression unleashed upon the students. In fact, I demand at this moment that he must apologise not just in this House, but before the entire nation. You cannot run away and hide without answering these questions. No matter where you hide, ultimately, you have to go back to your home. I conclude by saying that this question will confront you again inside your own home.

The Rajya Sabha took up the Bill on July 30. John Brittas said this government intends to treat the symptom, not the disease. That is my complaint. I would invite the attention of the minister to one thing. Two years back, when this Bill was brought, what did he say? The sum and substance of his utterance was this: With this legislation, paper leaks, scams, corruption, irregularities will be obliterated. It has actually gone up. The magnitude has grown. The same thing is being repeated by the minister when he brought an amendment on the floor of the House. Now they say that Nandan Nilekani and fast-track courts, along with this amendment, will solve the crisis. There was a committee earlier, the Radhakrishnan Committee. Its report is still gathering dust. What has happened to that? Now, all of a sudden, Nandan Nilekani is the ‘blue chip’ of this government. Everybody talked about the NTA. It is about probity in public life. This is not about BJP or CPI(M) or Congress. It is about higher education. Who is at the helm of higher education? The secretary of the department. There were charges against him of Rs 1.16 crore being siphoned off in subsidy. I just plead with the government to think about our children. I have one more point to make on this. Why did these people, the students, come to Jantar Mantar? Let us be very clear about it. It was the piled up angst and anger of millions of students which was expressed at Jantar Mantar. Don't belittle them. Don't humiliate them. Don't insult them. They are our own children. I was there at Jantar Mantar. Almost for 10-15 days, I could feel the fragrance of their determination. Many times people ask me, ‘Do you believe it?’ I said, ‘I believe that they will succeed.’ Because the determination was strong. You cannot explain the tears of these children with tear gas. You cannot break their determination with pellets. You cannot put them down with chili bombs or lathis with nails. Let us understand that. They have the himmat, the courage and the boldness to take on anybody. That is what should be known. There is hypocrisy. I will tell you about one. It is about decolonization or everything against foreign or changing names of places. Allahabad becomes Prayagraj. Shahjahanabad becomes Indraprastha. We speak about Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. I can tell you that sixty per cent of the Cabinet Ministers have either their children or grandchildren who study abroad. Think about the hapless students, our children. They don't have anywhere to go. It is beyond the cause of the children. We are regaining the democratic space in this country, which was being eclipsed by intoxicated absolute power. That is something to be underscored. My last point is about our concept of education. Let us be very clear about it. It is to ignite the minds of our children to discover, to explore and to find. Not to put them down. Every parent in this country, every family in this country weaves their dreams around their children. In a country of our nature, a family can escape the clutches of poverty and suffering through education. They pin their hopes on their son and daughter. That is why they make huge investments. They even pledge their house, hypothecate everything, sell everything and prepare their children for getting admission into an engineering college or a medical college. When paper leaks happen, they are completely crestfallen and angry. We should understand that. We should change this system instead of passing another legislation. That will not solve our crisis.

Let us decentralise the system, scrap NTA and review NEET. Let us bring all the stakeholders together. Let us put our heads together because we always claim that we have a dividend. What dividend? It is the youngsters, the demographic dividend. If you want to have the demographic dividend to enrich this nation, let us solve this crisis. Let us demolish the structure of corruption in the country. That is the only way forward.