Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress today demanded the immediate arrest of Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan in the NEET and NET-UG examination scam.
“Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate a day after our July 21 Martyr’s Day rally in 2022 and was booked in connection with the so-called SSC and TET scam. Trinamool Congress does not tolerate wrongdoing or misdeeds. But, we want to ask that if the central agencies can raid Partha Chatterjee’s house and arrest him, why should not Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan be arrested by the NEET and NET-UG scams, which are the biggest education-related scams in independent India?” asked Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary. Abhishek was addressing a mega rally of the Trinamool Congress at the Esplanade area of Kolkata today.
Reacting to Abhishek, Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar said, “He (Abhishek Banerjee) is mixing two distinctively different things. In the case of SSC and TET scam of Bengal, the state government and the administration was directly involved. In the case of NEET or NET, even the Opposition has not been able to accuse any central minister or the government. There are some allegations about question paper leaks and only one FIR has been registered. We have conducted a detailed evaluation through IIT-Madras and we have said strict action will be taken against those found involved in any malpractice. There are a few questions related to this and the Minister will respond to those in the Parliament tomorrow or in the coming days."
"But, in the case of SSC and TET scams, the government was using public money and employing legal eagles in the court to obstruct a CBI inquiry into the scam. Two are different things, and I hope that the Trinamool leadership understands the difference,” Majumdar, who is also the Bengal BJP president, said.
The Opposition is all slated to corner the Government in the upcoming Budget Session of the Parliament slated to start tomorrow, over the NEET and NET-UG examination scam among other issues. Union Finance Minister is expected to lay the Economic Survey in the Parliament tomorrow and present the Union Budget on Tuesday.
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