Students and youth organisations protested in Bhopal, demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over exam paper leaks. They also raised concerns about unemployment, vacant government posts, and nursing college irregularities.
Students and youth organisations staged a protest in Bhopal on Thursday against the police action on protesters at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over examination paper leak issues. The protesters also raised concerns over unemployment, demanded that vacant government posts be filled and called for action in the nursing college irregularities case. Students from nearly 20 districts of Madhya Pradesh participated in the demonstration.
Protesters Demand Jobs, Action on Paper Leaks
Speaking to ANI, Manoj Rajak, State Coordinator of the Movement Against Unemployment, alleged that students and youth had been subjected to injustice and demanded strict punishment for those involved in examination paper leaks. “Our demands are simple and clear. The Modi government at the Centre has done injustice to students and young people. We demand strict punishment for those responsible for examination paper leaks. In the last 10 years, more than 89 examination papers have been leaked in this country, yet the government has taken no action against those responsible. We are also demanding that all vacant government jobs, whether in the Central Government or the state governments, be filled. Instead, governments are eliminating jobs one after another. The Railways have abolished 90,000 posts this year, while the Madhya Pradesh government has abolished 1.2 lakh posts,” Rajak said.
He alleged that youth were not getting jobs, and instead of providing employment, the government is responding with lathicharges in the name of jobs. “The students, youth and ordinary citizens who were lathicharged in Delhi, we will ask accountability for every baton that was used against them. They (govt) try to divide us in the name of religion and caste, but today’s youth are no longer blind followers. Our concerns are employment, rising inflation and quality education. To raise these issues, students and youth from nearly 20 districts of Madhya Pradesh have gathered here today. Through this protest, we are sending a message that young people are staging demonstrations in every district, every village and every city,” Rajak said.
Movement to Continue Until Demands Met
He added, “We will continue this movement until Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns. The government must provide compensation to the families of the students who died by suicide, and it must ensure that the police do not interfere in democratic protests in the future. These are the demands we are raising here today.”
Nursing Students Allege Course Delays
Meanwhile, several nursing students from different parts of the state also participated in the protest alleging delays in the completion of the nursing course.
“Students from nursing colleges across the state have gathered here. We are from Jabalpur Nursing College. Even though ours is a government college, the four-year nursing course has still not been completed. Our third-year result has not been declared yet…we want our result to be declared at the end of this month,” a nursing student said.
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