Mumbai, Correspondent
Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the union Government, accusing it of systemic failure in managing the economy of the country and failing to ensure the integrity of critical competitive exams.
Chavan raised serious concerns over the depreciating value of the Indian Rupee, which he claimed is on the verge of hitting the Rs 100 mark against the US Dollar. He further blamed the Centre's "mismanagement" for the rising inflation, specifically citing fuel price hikes and the potential fallout from the conflict in Iran.
"The country's economy is in complete shambles. The government is silently picking the pockets of the common man by gradually increasing gas and petrol prices," Chavan alleged, questioning the government's performance across key sectors.
He also criticized the Centre's foreign policy, claiming that even neighboring Pakistan has gained more diplomatic prominence by mediating in the Iran-US conflict, while India remains conspicuously absent from such international initiatives.
Turning his focus to the 'NEET' paper leak controversy, Chavan termed it a "massive scam" and demanded the immediate resignation of union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. He asserted that such large-scale malpractice could not occur without high-level political protection.
"The government has arrested a few professors, but why has no action been taken against any top-level officials? This is a case of 'Rajashraya' (state-sponsored patronage). Millions of students have had their futures pushed into darkness," he stated.
Chavan recalled the instances of former Congress Chief Ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashok Chavan, who stepped down to accept moral responsibility for their respective tenures, despite not being directly involved in personal wrongdoing. "In this government, ministers lack the shame to do the same," he added.
Challenging the Centre to release a 'White Paper' detailing all paper leak incidents reported across the country since 2011, he warned that merely transferring officials would not solve the core issue and argued that if the government does not take ownership of its failures, incidents like the NEET leak are bound to repeat next year.
"The government must admit its failure. Who is the mastermind behind this massive operation that has crippled the entire examination system? The government owes an answer to the 23 lakh students whose futures are currently at stake," Chavan added.
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