CHANDIGARH: A day after Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned over the NEET paper leak issue, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Sunday claimed that not a single competitive examination paper had leaked in the state during the AAP government’s four-and-a-half years in office, amid opposition allegations of repeated paper leaks in Punjab.Speaking at a state-level event in Zirakpur to felicitate 882 government school students who cleared the NEET-UG re-examination, Mann said the only incident reported was an attempted cheating case during the recently conducted pharmacy officer examination, which was swiftly foiled by the Punjab Police. Referring to the incident, Mann said, “We have been in power for the past four-and-a-half years. Not a single paper leak has happened in Punjab.”
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He said the police uncovered a sophisticated inter-state cheating network after detecting the use of pen cameras and real-time dictation by a candidate at an examination centre in Ferozepur.“Within minutes, those cheating and the gang behind them were caught and jailed,” Mann said.The chief minister also claimed that his government had provided 68,585 government jobs solely on the basis of merit.Commenting on the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak issue, Mann said Gen Z had made a “stubborn government” bow.Claiming that 22 students had died by suicide following the NEET paper leak, Mann asked, “Can any amount of monetary compensation to the families bring back those children?”Praising the younger generation, he said, “Gen-Z possess sharp insights and energy, and we only need to ensure this potential is channelled constructively.”Mann also said it was a matter of pride that Aryan Gupta from Ludhiana had emerged as the topper in this year’s NEET-UG re-examination.On Saturday, both the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) described Pradhan’s resignation as a victory for students, while simultaneously targeting the Punjab government over alleged paper leaks.Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said, “While the Union minister has been forced to resign, Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains was still in office, and he must also go for the repeated paper leaks in Punjab.”
