New Delhi, Jul 28 (PTI) The government was rattled and was forced to bow down and accept the demands of the protesting students, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday, noting that the students’ stir on the NEET paper leak issue was the first such agitation supported by parents.
Participating in a debate on the bill for introducing stricter measures in the anti-paper leak law in Lok Sabha, Yadav slammed the police crackdown on students where allegedly “lathis with spikes and electric batons” were used and said such “injustice was akin to the Emergency period”.
“Jab sarkar dar jati hai, ghabra jati hai, to sweekar kar leti hai…Sarkar jhuki aur sweekar kiya (When the government gets rattled, it accepts… the government bowed down and accepted the demands),” he said, referring to the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as education minister.
Yadav hoped that the government will keep its word on the promises made to the protesters.
He said that parents had sent their children to agitate for their rights. “This was the first such agitation which was supported by parents.” “The government has snatched rights of Dalits and backward classes in recruitments,” he said and alleged malpractices in exams in Uttar Pradesh.
Yadav also attacked the government for “outsourcing” a crucial body like the National Testing Agency.
The opposition fears that the entire government could be outsourced just like NTA, he said in a swipe at the Centre.
Ending a week-long logjam, the Lok Sabha on Tuesday began a discussion on the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill 2026, with Union minister Jitendra Singh describing it as a reaffirmation of the government’s commitment to safeguard the welfare of students and the youth.
The government introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday, days after student protests over the NEET fiasco led to Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as education minister, to provide for stricter punishment of up to 10 years in jail and a heftier fine of Rs 50 lakh for paper leaks. PTI GJS NAB RT RT RT RT
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