The stand-off between the ruling National Democratic Alliance and the Congress-led INDIA bloc continued on Monday with the opposition staging a walk-out from the Lok Sabha over its demand for a discussion on the NEET row.
Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, called for a review of the entire education system under the supervision of the Supreme Court.
Speaking during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge said, “Not just NEET or the National Testing Agency, the entire education system must be reviewed under Supreme Court.”
The Congress chief also demanded that the Agnipath Scheme be scrapped.
“The morale of the youth has been shattered by bringing an unplanned and ‘tughlaqi’ scheme like Agniveer…I demand that Agniveer scheme should be scrapped,” he said.
Kharge termed the President’s address to the joint sitting of both the Houses a ”copy of the January address” and asserted it lacked both vision and direction.
“The President is the most important part of Parliament, we respect the President. This year, the President’s first address was in January and second in June. The first address was for elections and the second was a copy of it. There was nothing for Dalits, minority sections and the backward classes in her address. There was neither vision nor direction in the President’s address. Like the last time, it was just about full of words of appreciation for the government,” Kharge added.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha also witnessed a heated exchange between the Opposition and the Government over the issue of NEET exams.
Leader of Opposition in the Lower House, Rahul Gandhi, demanded a separate one day discussion on the NEET-UG issue, saying more than two crore students have been affected.
“We wanted a one-day discussion on NEET. It is an important issue. More than two crore students have been affected. Paper leaks have happened on 70 occasions. We would be happy if you allow a separate discussion on the issue,” Gandhi said.
However, the Centre Opposed the separate discussion on the issue, saying no other issue was taken up during the Motion of Thanks on President’s address.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh intervened, saying that a discussion can’t be allowed till the House finishes the debate on Motion of Thanks.
“In my decades-long tenure as a parliamentarian, never has any other issue been taken up during the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address. Other issues can be raised after passing the motion of thanks,” Singh said.
Speaker Om Birla said there was no convention of taking up any other discussion during the debate on the Motion of Thanks and members can give a separate notice for the discussion on NEET.
As soon as Birla asked BJP MP Anurag Thakur to initiate the discussion on the Motion of Thanks, the Opposition staged a walk-out from the Lok Sabha demanding assurance of a debate from the government on the issue.