Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remarks on exam paper leaks have sparked a political controversy, with Congress leader Supriya Shrinate criticising her comments and accusing her of being insensitive towards students affected by the issue.
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In an interview with news agency ANI, Sitharaman seemed to suggest that while the paper leak initially affected students who had worked hard for their examinations, some candidates used the extra time before re-exams to strengthen their preparation.
Sitharaman also said the government had acted against those involved in leaking and trading exam papers even before the announcement of measures related to fast-track courts.
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“There are young people who are coming out and saying, ‘Yes, first it sort of hurt me when the paper leakage happened. But later I took advantage of that and prepared even more and my performance has improved.’ So there are young people who have taken this challenge and come out in bright colors. With all this, the government is responding, the PM is responding,” Sitharaman said.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate took a dig at the Finance Minister over her remarks in a social media post.
Sitharaman’s remarks came after NEET UG 2026, All India Rank (AIR) 2 holder Panshul Bansal said he chose to focus on his preparation instead of joining the demonstrations, using the time to improve his performance.
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In an NDTV interview about the paper leak controversy and the ongoing agitation, Bansal had said, “I thought of the situation as an opportunity to improve my score. So I thought, why should I go to the protest? Instead, I could be studying at home and improving my skills and score.”
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) hit out at Sitharaman over her remarks on the NEET paper leak issue, calling them “insensitive” towards students affected by the controversy. Reacting to her statement that some students benefited from the re-NEET and worked harder, Ashutosh Ranka said, “By this logic, every paper in this country should get leaked.”
The party questioned whether the government was “extolling the virtues of paper leaks” instead of taking responsibility for the failure of the examination system.
“In fact, much before today’s announcement of setting up fast-track courts and assuring the punishments will be handed over to those people who violated the sacredness of an exam by leaking the papers, by buying papers, by selling papers–even earlier to this announcement, the government arrested those people who actually committed this crime,” she told ANI.
She said those involved in the malpractice had compromised the careers of thousands of students for their personal gains.
“They are people who, for their selfish reasons, violated and bought and sold papers. They have all been arrested. Today’s announcement by the Prime Minister assures the citizens, the mothers and the fathers who are supporting their children to make sure that they pass these examinations because it’s their career,” she added.
The protests, led by the CJP, demand Pradhan’s resignation over the NEET paper leaks, irregularities in the exam system and student suicides.
In their official account on X, the front listed:
1. Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
2. ₹1 crore compensation for families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide.
3. No prosecution of peaceful protesters.
4. All police officials involved in committing atrocities must be prosecuted.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk called off his 26-day hunger strike late Thursday night at Gurugram’s Medanta Hospital in the presence of Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh.
