New Delhi, July 30 -- Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said the Public Examinations Amendment Bill remained incomplete for lacking robust provisions to prevent paper leaks, demanding a legally mandated annual examination calendar, a Supreme Court-monitored probe into police action against protesting students, and time-bound filling of government vacancies.

Participating in the debate on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge said the government had failed to incorporate Opposition's suggestions made in 2024, forcing it to amend the law within two years of enactment, and that the proposed changes still lacked a strong mechanism to curb paper leaks.

Kharge added that unless institutions and the examination system are reformed and accountability is fixed, paper leaks will continue to occur, and "we will be discussing the same thing here again". "Paper leaks hurt innocent students and their parents," Kharge said.

Congratulating the youth for forcing the government to remove Dharmendra Pradhan as Education Minister, he said that because of their strong voice, along with the Opposition's protests in Parliament, the government finally bowed to their demands. Questioning the use of lathis, tear gas and pellet guns against students, Kharge said over 100 students were injured, with one on a ventilator and another at risk of losing eyesight, and referred to firing on students in Bihar.

He also criticised the absence of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister from the House, saying neither had spoken despite the unrest.

"I felt ashamed. I don't know if he felt ashamed. Who is responsible for the atrocities against students?" he asked. "People's power will drag him out." He asked who authorised the action and who the plainclothes personnel involved were, adding that if Home Minister Amit Shah could not answer, he should resign, failing which Prime Minister Narendra Modi should remove him.

On examination reforms, Kharge said over 152 paper leak incidents had occurred in the past decade without major accused being punished, citing the 2024 and 2026 NEET cases. He also cited parliamentary data showing over three million vacant government posts nationally. mpost

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.