Enforcing law against paper leak mere whitewash: Cong chief Mallikarjun Kharge
New Delhi, Jun 22: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday termed the enforcement of the anti-paper leak law a "whitewash" and asserted that the BJP cannot evade its responsibility in "promoting corruption and education mafia".
The Centre on Friday night operationalised the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which aims to curb malpractices and irregularities in competitive examinations and entails provisions for a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore for offenders.
In a post in Hindi on 'X', the Congress president claimed that 70 question papers were leaked in the last seven years and sought to know why the BJP has taken no action so far.
"No matter how much effort BJP makes in the NEET scam, it cannot escape its responsibility in promoting fraud, corruption and education mafia," Kharge said.
He said the law against paper leaks got the President's assent on February 13 this year but was notified only on Friday night.
"When the education minister was asked about it in the press conference, he had said the law was notified... Why did the Education Minister of the Modi Government lie that the law has been notified when the Ministry of Law and Justice had yet to frame the rules?" Kharge asked.
He said the Union education minister first denied the paper leak and after arrests were made in Gujarat, Bihar, and Haryana, he said the exam will not be cancelled since papers were leaked locally in some places.
"The fact is that in 2015, 44 students were involved, yet the Pre-Medical Test was held again for six lakh candidates on the orders of the Supreme Court," the Congress president said.
He said that on NEET too, the Supreme Court has said if there has been even 0.001 fraud, then action should be taken.
"Why is the Modi government not conducting the exam again even though the education minister has admitted to the irregularities?" Kharge posed.
"In nine days, NTA has cancelled or postponed three major exams. Even after passing the law, the leak of the UP Police Recruitment and Promotion Board's (UPPRPB) exam paper in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh has been found to be linked to a Gujarat company," he said.
The Congress president asked, "Why are (question) papers still being leaked despite a law being passed against it? When 70 papers were leaked in the last seven years, why did the Modi government not take any strict action against it?"
"Bringing a new law is merely a whitewash by the BJP. Unless the education system and autonomous institutions are freed from the interference and negative influence of BJP-RSS, this fraud, theft and corruption will continue," Kharge said.
The National Testing Agency, which conducts the competitive exams, on Friday, announced the postponement of the June edition of the Joint Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test, citing unavoidable circumstances and logistic issues.
It came two days after the agency cancelled the UGC-NET examination within 24 hours of its conduct saying the integrity of the exam had been compromised, and a massive row on NEET over alleged irregularities, with the issue now before the Supreme Court.
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KKR land Green for record-breaking Rs 25.20 crore; Shaw, Sarfaraz go unsold
Abu Dhabi (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders splurged a record-breaking Rs 25.20 to land top Australian all-rounder Cameron Green even as Indian stars Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan went unsold in the Indian Premier League players' auction here on Tuesday.
Green surpassed compatriot Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crore) to become the most expensive overseas player at an IPL auction. This was after Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings were involved in an intense bidding war for him before the latter emerged winner.
KKR also went after Venkatesh Iyer before pulling out of the race against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who fetched the services of the India all-rounder for Rs 7 crore.
As far as Green is concerned, his salary for the season would still be Rs 18 crore (USD 1.9 million) as the rest of the amount will go towards the BCCI's player development programme as per the rules of the auction for foreign players.
Green, who previously turned up for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has so far played 29 matches in the IPL to aggregate 707 runs and take 16 wickets.
Shaw, however, went unsold despite his fine run of form in the domestic circuit lately, and so was the case with Sarfaraz, who smashed a 22-ball 73 in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Mumbai on Tuesday.
Big-hitting South African batter David Miller was bought by Delhi Capitals for his base price of Rs 2 crore, but New Zealand swashbuckler Devon Conway, whose base price was also Rs 2 crore, went unsold in the auction.
Seasoned South African opener Quinton de Kock returned to his old base Mumbai Indians for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
A total of 359 players -- 246 Indians and 113 overseas players -- are part of the mini auction pool with the 10 franchises bidding to fill up a maximum of 77 slots, including 31 reserved for foreign players.
