Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan has said that resignations, official transfers and legislative measures alone are not enough to resolve the paper leak problem, calling for a deeper overhaul of the education system to address its root cause.
In an exclusive interview with ABP News Political Editor Megha Prasad, Paswan was questioned about the Gen-Z protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on July 20, former education minsiter Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation on July 25, the tabling of the paper leak bill in Parliament on July 29-30 and its approval by the President on July 31.
His remarks came in the context of the National Testing Agency's decision to conduct the UGC-NET Sociology, English and Commerce examinations again, requiring lakhs of students to reappear.
Asked why students continue to question the education system despite the steps taken after the paper leak controversy, the NDA leader said he agreed with their concerns.
"I completely agree with the concerns of Gen-Z. I believe that until any problem has a sthai solution, that issue cannot be completely solved. A permanent solution is needed for the education system of our country," he said.
Paswan said both the government and Opposition need to move beyond politics and identify the root cause of paper leaks.
"The ruling government and the opposition need to leave politics and identify the root cause," he said.
Paswan pointed to the resignation of the Education Minister, the announcement of the bill and the transfer of officials, but questioned whether these measures had addressed the source of the problem.
"The education minister resigned, bill was announced, officials were transferred. But did we manage to reach the root cause? The opposition was only doing politics," he said.
He said the focus should be on identifying the person who first obtained, purchased and circulated a leaked paper.
"I want an arrangement where people leave politics and a system is improved in a way that we are able to reach that person who was the first one to take the leaked paper, buy it, circulate it to others. Did we reach there? No," Paswan said.
Paswan said several steps had been taken, but the fundamental problem remained unresolved. He argued that surface-level action would not be sufficient to prevent similar incidents in the future.
"We worked on a lot of things, but we are yet to reach the root cause of the paper leak," he said.
Calling for a complete overhaul of the system, Paswan said: "Until there is a complete overhaul of the system, instead of just surface-level action, and every party just tries to fulfil their political ambitions from this issue, and participate in the debate in the Parliament, we won't be able to solve the issue."
Paswan said the government has a responsibility to ensure that students do not repeatedly bear the consequences of failures in the examination system.
"Being a part of the government, I believe it is the responsibility of the government that we don't push students to reappear for the examination again and again," he said.
He stressed that reaching the root cause would require support from across the political spectrum.
"We have to reach the root cause once and for all. And for that we need the full support of the system, including opposition, which plays a very important role," Paswan said.
Paswan said the government was prepared to respond to questions raised by the Opposition, but called for those questions to be backed by facts and information that could help improve the system.
"I have said it time and again that when opposition asks questions, we are ready to answer. But bring facts, gather information on the basis of which hum vyavastha ka nirmaan kare, dobara se usko khada kare, and bring the reforms that the education system needs," he said.
When asked whether he was acknowledging that the government had failed to reach the root cause and what role the Opposition could play, Paswan said the problem required a collective effort.
"Everyone's collective effort is needed to reach root cause. You need to listen to everything beyond politics. We need to worry about the future of the country together," he said.
Paswan reiterated that identifying the people responsible for paper leaks was essential to preventing such incidents in the future. "Until we reach the person because of whom all of paper leaks happened, it is not possible," he said.
He added that he was not avoiding responsibility and maintained that the government was working on the issue.
