The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Centre over a spate of student suicides sparked by the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination last month, saying the cancellation of such exams does not appear to simply be an administrative failure but a “personal betrayal”.
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“Twenty-one children have lost their lives,” TMC MP Sagarika Ghose said while speaking on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Rajya Sabha. The bill aims forstricter punishment and time-bound trials for people accused of exam paper leaks.
The lawmaker was referring to suicides that were reported due to the exam cancellation. “One young girl left a note, saying ‘sorry mummy, sorry papa, I do not have the courage to take another re-test.”
“A child has gone because of the failure of this government and the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has not said one word on these children. He is so busy with his Mann ki Baat,” she added.
Continuing her attack on the Centre, Ghose said: “Why should she say sorry? They should say sorry, the Prime Minister should say sorry. The Home Minister should say sorry. Why should a child say sorry to those who love her the most? You should say sorry. Democracy is not Mann ki Baat. Democracy is Janta ki Baat.”
The cancellation of the NEET-UG exam for admission into medical courses and the subsequent spate in suicides led to a 36-day nationwide stir by students and ultimately the ouster of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union Education Minister.
“They do not understand what the people are trying to say. They do not understand the youngsters and the students. They only understand Mann ki Baat,’ Ghose said in an apparent reference to the Centre.
“They will never stay up till 2 in the morning waiting for the results. They will never see a child stop eating, stop smiling and stop sleeping because one examination is controlling his entire future. The treasury benches are not worried because their children are all studying abroad. They have no skin in the game,” she added.
The TMC MP also took a swipe at Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remarks hinting that students can take advantage of exam paper leaks to prepare better.
“The honorable finance minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) said that cancelled papers are a good thing because children get more time to study. This is preposterous. I would like to tell the honorable finance minister that a cancelled exam is not a learning opportunity, it is the government’s failure,” she said.
Last week, Prime Minister Modi vowed strict action against those involved in the NEET exam paper leak and to safeguard the interests of the country’s youth.
