Congress MP Rahul Gandhi appears to be on a new mission: Restoring students’ shaken and waning confidence in their examination system amid frequent paper leaks and the consequent loss of time and money.
Soon after his return to Delhi on the morning of June 18, following an event in Kota the previous evening, where he addressed a crowded and intimately interactive rally of students on paper leaks, Rahul launched a signature campaign through his social media accounts.
Christened Chatron Ki Goonj (Students’ Outcry), the campaign aims to make the Modi government understand student anxiety and quickly fix the tottering education and examination system. Within hours of interacting with thousands of students in Kota, Rahul escalated their battle a tad with the signature campaign.
Why Congress workers are disappointed
Yet, not all his party men are enamoured of his approach. On Wednesday (June 17), after Rahul finished his Kota address, a middle-level Congress functionary called this writer to share, in confidence, his — and may well be his party cohort’s — disappointment. Rahul’s performance before a crowd of thousands of boisterous students in the arid but bustling town of Rajasthan was not political enough, he felt.
Also read: Rahul at Kota rally: ‘India’s education system is an extortion machine’
The caller’s main point was that Rahul was unnecessarily “apolitical and overly philosophical” amid an issue as big as the NEET paper leak.
True. Rahul, in a speech at an INDIA bloc meeting in Delhi on June 8, did call for “resistance” rather than run-of-the-mill ways to counter the BJP’s onslaught against the Opposition. But, when he spoke to students in Kota, there was no talk of resistance.
Rahul’s focus on system change
Instead, Rahul tried to paint the paper leak crisis as a larger moral and ethical issue — one related to basic integrity, or its lack thereof, among those presiding over the system. He dwelt upon the myriad kinds of injustice meted out to the students—mostly in terms of expenditure on education in the Union Budget versus what the public cumulatively shells out for education. He called the mismatch “extortion”, involving virtual criminality.
Strong words, though Rahul pitched for change or improvement of the system rather than a quick solution.
This may not be to the liking of some of his party men. They probably believe more in directly targeting the ruling dispensation, pushing the Congress to a more politically consequential zone.
Also read: BJP using state machinery to disrupt Rahul’s student outreach in Kota: Congress
“No less than Rs 3.2 lakh crore are spent a year by the families of 22 lakh students who appear in exams for about 80,000 government medical college seats. This is as much as the total annual expenditure on education by the government in the Union Budget. But it does not stop here and goes on to other examinations to select and hire students for professional courses and specific jobs,” he remarked.
Rahul’s advice to students
Rahul stressed the enabling, considerate and caring role of a welfare state in providing education, career assistance and jobs to students, instead of allowing disruption because of paper leaks.
Through a graphic display of slides on a huge screen, the Congress leader tried to show the virtual impossibility of career building for the bulk of aspiring students on one hand, and the paucity of ideas, thoughts and will on the part of the government on the other.
He called upon Kota students to pursue self-discovery rather than blindly run and chase the oft-beaten tracks that lead to just a few careers with the chance for only a few successes. The increasing loss of prospects amid burgeoning demand for jobs was the point Rahul tried to make before students.
How Rahul captivated his young audience
The fact that Rahul could strike a chord with them made his interaction a lot more than merely political. The presentation was novel and refreshing. It enchanted his audience in a way only a rock star can otherwise achieve before a young audience.
Also read: Rahul, Kejriwal slam Centre’s Telegram ban ahead of NEET-UG re-exam
Rahul addressed both meritorious and not-so-competent learners — a distinction that often gives hope to the government since issues like paper leaks agitate only some students, not all. Student angst does not go away but resurfaces simply because paper leaks keep recurring.
One recent fallout of this is the emergence of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) led by activist Abhijeet Dipke. He launched a movement in Delhi on June 6 against the paper leak and other irregularities in public exams. Like the Congress, Dipke demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
But unlike him, and his own party, Rahul did not make any such demand in Kota. Yet, the way he interacted with the students left no doubt about his ability to offer a roadmap for redeeming the fast-eroding public faith in education and career-making sectors.
Another Bharat Jodo Yatra?
As for his unconventional manner at Kota, about which the Congress functionary mentioned above seemed worried, there are precedents even within the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, in the past, communicated with the beneficiaries of government schemes. The BJP has deployed PowerPoint presentations during public interactions. So, Rahul was hardly at odds with the norm.
Also read: Why Rahul Gandhi, flaws and all, remains the Opposition’s best bet
He was even formally dressed for the occasion, in a shirt rather than his trademark white T-shirt. He looked casual and at ease as he spoke about serious issues in a matter-of-fact manner.
Rahul is to travel to Prayagraj and Patna and speak in Delhi next month on the same issue of exams and education. Gradually, his education-related campaign is picking up. The NSUI and Youth Congress took to the streets last month in many cities, though the party still has its share of sceptics.
The Congress MP from Rae Bareli seems to be once again leaving a mark on people’s minds, akin to his Bharat Jodo Yatra. Whether he scales up the current approach to truly make an impact remains to be seen.
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