In a fiery protest against the widespread irregularities and alleged paper leak in this year’s NEET-UG examination, members of the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) burned an effigy of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan here on Sunday.
The students’ organisation also raised strong demands for his immediate resignation, calling the scandal a massive betrayal of lakhs of aspirants.
Wearing symbolic nooses made of NEET admit cards around their necks, protesters accused the National Testing Agency (NTA) of turning the medical entrance exam into a “corrupt lottery.” They demanded the complete scrapping of both the NTA and the NEET system, arguing that the centralised examination process has repeatedly failed students and opened the door for organised leaks and coaching mafia exploitation.
The demonstration also targeted the Odisha government’s “double-engine” administration, urging it to provide free transportation and at least ₹1,000 in financial assistance to all NEET candidates from the state. Speakers highlighted how over 22 lakh students across the country are suffering physical, financial, and mental trauma due to repeated paper leaks and administrative apathy.
“While question papers with over 140 leaked questions were circulating from mobile to mobile, the NTA chief had the audacity to call it just a ‘leak of some questions’ instead of admitting a full paper leak,” said AISF leaders. They pointed out that even after last year’s massive scandal, only a cosmetic transfer of the NTA chief took place, with no systemic reforms.
The protesters alleged involvement of BJP leaders in the current leak and criticised the “anti-student” policies that push underprivileged, Dalit, Adivasi, and backwards-class students out of medical education due to financial barriers and the dominance of expensive coaching institutes.“If the Minister does not resign immediately, AISF will launch a massive agitation from villages to Delhi,” warned State Secretary Kanhu Charan Parida.
State President Sanghamitra Jena said the government has a moral responsibility to own up to the failure and protect the future of students. Prominent among those present were Manoranjan Raut, Papu Raut, Pushpalata Das, Sagar Pradhan, Chandrakant Swain, Shubhendu Pratap Bishwal, Manoj Jena and other student leaders.
The protest reflects growing nationwide anger over the repeated mismanagement of NEET, with students demanding sweeping reforms to restore credibility to India’s medical entrance system.
