Martyr status to farmers killed during farm laws protest if Congress wins Haryana polls: Surjewala
Chandigarh, Aug 23: Farmers who died during the protest against the three farm laws would be given martyr status if the Congress wins the Haryana assembly elections, party general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said on Friday.
Hitting out at the BJP-led NDA government, Surjewala said, "They were forced to withdraw the black farm laws. They had assured a legal guarantee for minimum support prices (MSP). They have failed to do it."
"As many as 750 farmers died during the agitation (at the Delhi border). A Congress government will be formed with people's blessings after one month (in Haryana). Within 30 days of assuming charge, all 750 (farmers) will be given martyr status and their next of kin a job," Surjewala, a former Haryana minister, said at a gathering in Kaithal district.
Farmers -- mostly from Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan -- had protested against the now-repealed three farm laws along Delhi's borders in 2020-2021.
On the issue of legal guarantee for MSP, Surjewala said, "Narendra Modi, Manohar Lal Khattar and Nayab Singh Saini did not fulfil that promise. Today, I want to tell you that the day Rahul Gandhi becomes prime minister, the first law in Parliament will be a legal guarantee for MSP."
Surjewala also said if the Congress formed the government in Haryana, it would effectively tackle unemployment, which he called a big problem.
"We will ensure jobs are given in a transparent manner. Two lakh posts are lying vacant in Haryana, of which nearly a lakh posts are for Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes, but the BJP government in the state failed to fill those. We will fill these vacancies," he said.
Unemployment is a big problem and has affected every household. In addition to providing government jobs, employment avenues will also be created in the private sector, the Congress leader added.
मेरा वादा है 👇
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) August 23, 2024
किसान आंदोलन के दौरान जिन किसानों ने अपनी जान गवाई है,कांग्रेस की सरकार बनने पर उन 750 किसानों को शहीद का दर्जा और उनके परिवार के एक सदस्य को नौकरी भी दिलवाएंगे।
📍कलायत, विजय संकल्प रैली। pic.twitter.com/yRmJMwQPlQ
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Raj Thackeray questions need for NEET, demands Pradhan’s resignation
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Thursday questioned the need for NEET-UG and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi seek the resignation of Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan.
Thackeray's demand comes amid massive protests over the cancellation of the examination following allegations of paper leak.
The MNS chief said the government is so “obsessed” with bringing everything under a centralised authority that it appears to make no difference if the lives of hundreds of thousands of people are thrown into “disarray”.
In a post on X, Thackeray said that for several years now, a single individual (Pradhan) has remained entrenched in the position of Union education minister. Despite numerous “irregularities” and “scandals” within the NEET framework during his tenure, this “gentleman” continues to occupy the post, he said.
“One wonders: has he been rewarded with this continued tenure because he is so zealously pursuing the agenda of imposing the Hindi language across the entire nation? I earnestly appeal to the Prime Minister: please demand the immediate resignation of this Minister of yours, who has repeatedly toyed with the lives and future of 22 lakh students,” Thackeray said.
The National Testing Agency on Tuesday cancelled the NEET (UG) 2026 exam held on May 3 amid allegations of paper leak, with the government asking the CBI to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the “irregularities”. The examination for students seeking admission to undergraduate courses in medical colleges will now be held afresh on dates to be notified separately.
Thackeray said the Centre continues its tradition of creating “chaos” in every matter and holding the public to ransom. The “NEET paper leak” has proved this once again, he said.
Thackeray sought to know what the Centre did when it found out the alleged malpractice. It merely cancelled the examination and ordered a CBI inquiry, he said.
In 2024, a CBI inquiry was ordered in a similar case, but nothing substantial was achieved through it, he said.
The government projects an air of having fulfilled its duty in all of this. But what about the lives of 22 lakh students and their families, who have been left hanging in the balance, he asked.
Thackeray said fundamentally, there was no need to “impose” NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test)-UG back in 2016.
“However, this government’s obsession with bringing everything under a single, centralised authority is so intense that, to them, it seems to make no difference if the lives of hundreds of thousands of people are thrown into disarray,” he said.
The MNS chief also asked ministers within the Maharashtra government to show some “spine” and join voices with those of the southern states and oppose this system.
Thackeray said leaders from the southern states have voiced their opposition in much the same way as he. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay has also demanded the cancellation of NEET. The reason for this is that the five southern states, combined with Maharashtra, collectively possess over 350 medical colleges, whereas the large states in the north have only 180 medical colleges, he said.
Consequently, this persistent push that began in 2016 is essentially an attempt to facilitate the “entry of students from the north into medical colleges in the south”, alleged Thackeray. To ensure this, the largest network of coaching classes has been established in the northern states, he claimed.
