JAMMU — Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra on Sunday said the party has expanded its nationwide campaign against examination paper leaks to all 20 districts of the Union territory, and alleged that the Centre has failed to safeguard the future of students.
He said the Congress high command had announced 28 pilot campaigns across the country under this initiative last month, with Srinagar among the selected locations where the campaign was launched on July 2.
“The programme is now being conducted across all 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir,” Karra told reporters on the sidelines of the campaign in Bishnah, on the outskirts of Jammu.
Targeting the BJP-led Centre, Karra said a government which “could not protect donations made by devotees at temples” cannot be expected to be serious regarding issues such as education and repeated leak of examination papers.
“If theft can take place in temples, then how can the theft of examination papers be considered surprising?” he said.
Questioning Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s continuation in office, the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief said the party had repeatedly asked why he had not resigned despite the death of 21 students.
“Now we understand why his conscience was unmoved. If they cannot safeguard temples, how can they be expected to safeguard education and the future of children?” Karra lashed out.
He said the campaign involved both rural and urban units of Jammu district Congress, with large participation of the party’s senior leadership.
He said the largest number of participants at the event were students, describing it as encouraging, as the issue of paper leaks directly concerns their future.
Karra said, “Rahul Gandhi has provided us with an excellent platform. Through this platform, we want to visit every district, create awareness among students and motivate them to join this movement.” He asserted that the issue of paper leaks extends beyond examinations and has wider social implications.
“This is not merely about paper leaks or whether someone qualifies or is disqualified in an examination. It has a broader societal dimension. There is a social aspect, a psychological aspect and a mental health aspect that perhaps our prime minister or Union education minister fail to understand,” he said.
Karra alleged the government was disconnected from the concerns of ordinary families, claiming that many leaders’ children study abroad and are therefore unaffected by paper leaks.
“Their own children are studying in foreign countries, so these paper leaks have no impact on them or on their families. This is the reality that the country is facing today,” he said. — (PTI)