Resignation and its Aftermath |
After forcing the resignation of the Union Education Minister for his inept handling of paper leaks, the Cockroach Janta Party has gone on a resignation-demanding spree ~ Education Ministers of sundry States are under notice, and now, the party has demanded resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner. The CJP movement has drawn immense traction with thousands, mainly youth, joining protests and demonstrations against the Government. Opposition parties have jumped on the CJP’s bandwagon, leading to general mayhem across the country.
A positive outcome of the current spate of agitations is that the public has been made aware of substantial issues facing the nation ~ not the usual controversies about religion, caste, or infiltrators, which political parties assiduously promote to shore up their vote banks. Protestors have focussed an unforgiving spotlight on top public officials who had underperformed. Still, the question remains whether as a result of the protests, tainted office bearers would be replaced by better people, and the ultimate aim of the protestors, better governance, would be achieved?
Sadly, this outcome is unlikely; after a well-supported public protest, against the leak of the NEET-UG 2026 question paper, which had elements of a Bollywood pot-boiler, including a fast unto death, gunfire, and an abduction, the Union Education Minister reluctantly resigned. Instead of initiating far-reaching educational reforms, and taking measures to tackle unemployment of educated youth, the Government constituted the High-Powered Task Force on Examination Reforms (HPTFER), under Nandan Nilekani of Infosys, to find ways and means to prevent paper leaks.
It has emerged that of the HPTFER’s ten terms of reference, seven had been fully addressed, and two partially covered, in the October 2024 report of the High-Level Committee of Experts (HLCE), led by former ISRO chairman, K Radhakrishnan, that was constituted after leak of NEET-UG 2024 question paper. Few of the Radhakrishnan Committee’s recommendations have been implemented, and as on date, after expiry of two and a half months, not a single recommendation has emerged from the HPTFER so far. In addition to the Education Minister’s sacking, another consequence of the agitation against the leak of NEET-PG 2026 question paper was the transfer of the Higher Education Secretary, who had also headed the National Testing Agency.
Later on, it emerged that the new Higher Education Secretary was under a cloud, since his wife, mother, and son, had availed subsidies from a department which he had previously headed. This led to another change at the Secretary level. Interestingly,........