Garhwal Post Bureau
DEHRADUN, 25 Jul: Uttarakhand Congress on Saturday described the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as a major victory for students and demanded that State Higher and Technical Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat also step down in the wake of the recent paper leak case at Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU).
Senior Congress leader and former Cabinet Minister Harak Singh Rawat said Pradhan’s resignation has delivered justice to students across the country who had been agitating over the NEET paper leak issue. He said the battle to protect the interests of young aspirants had been fought through sustained protests at Jantar Mantar and in several parts of the country.
Rawat said the Congress had also taken to the streets in Dehradun on Saturday to protest against the alleged paper leak in examinations conducted by Uttarakhand Technical University and had strongly demanded Pradhan’s resignation. He claimed that the resignation marked a significant victory for the country’s youth and students.
He credited the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, with consistently raising the issue of students’ concerns both inside Parliament and on the streets, while students and youth organisations had continued their agitation demanding Pradhan’s resignation. According to Rawat, the development represented a victory for the country’s youth and for Rahul Gandhi, adding that the government’s “arrogance” had finally been defeated.
Referring to the recent UTU paper leak case, Rawat said that after two examination papers of the state’s Technical University were allegedly leaked, the Uttarakhand Congress launched a state-wide protest under the party’s leadership and demanded the resignation of Dhan Singh Rawat. He said that just as the Union Education Minister’s resignation had been accepted, the state government should also seek the resignation of the Uttarakhand Education Minister. He asserted that the Congress would continue its agitation until Dhan Singh Rawat resigned from the state Cabinet.
At the same time, Uttarakhand PCC Chief Ganesh Godiyal said that had Dharmendra Pradhan resigned earlier, the lives of students who allegedly died by suicide over recruitment and examination-related issues could perhaps have been saved, and students across the country would not have had to spend months protesting at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere. He said a sensitive government should respect public sentiment and take timely decisions instead of delaying action.
Godiyal said there had been several instances in the past when Prime Ministers had accepted the resignations of ministers facing serious allegations. However, he alleged that for the first time a Prime Minister had allowed a minister to continue despite widespread demands for accountability. He claimed that the government had attempted to suppress the students’ movement through an authoritarian approach, but the unity and determination of students had ultimately prevailed.
Alleging that paper leak incidents had become widespread across the country and that Uttarakhand had witnessed an even higher frequency of such cases, Godiyal said that despite the prevailing situation, two examination papers of Uttarakhand Technical University were leaked on July 3. He alleged that there had been attempts to suppress the matter and that an FIR was registered only after the issue could no longer be concealed. He reiterated that the Technical Education Minister should also resign over the incident and urged Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to seek Dhan Singh Rawat’s resignation without further delay.
