From the Urdu Press: ‘NEET leak accountability must be fixed’; ‘CM Satheesan is Cong’s best bet in Kerala’

Flagging the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG exam for admission to undergraduate medical courses, the Mumbai-based Urdu Times, in its May 18 leader, points out that the unprecedented development caused by an alleged paper leak has rocked the education sector, affecting over 22 lakh students from across the country.

The Centre has handed over the probe into this case to the CBI, which has already arrested a number of accused. “It is unfortunate that the perpetrators of this paper leak tried to play with the future of so many NEET students,” the editorial says.

An alleged paper leak in the NEET-UG test had also taken place in 2024, but the exam was not cancelled, the edit notes. The Centre had then constituted a committee of experts headed by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan to suggest reforms in the examination process and security protocol, it says. “However, its key recommendations were not implemented.”

This time, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the exam, will conduct a NEET-UG retest. The daily also points out that some NEET aspirants have died by suicide in different parts of the country following the scrapping of the exam. “The Opposition has demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG fiasco. However, the Narendra Modi government has been silent on this grave issue. Who will take responsibility for it? The government seems to be bent on letting the row fizzle out,” the editorial claims. “There may be sound and fury over the NEET paper leak, the future of lakhs of students may be at stake, but eventually nothing may come out of it,” it says. “The Opposition members may hit the streets and hold protests, but it is unlikely that accountability would be really fixed over the entire affair.”

INQUILAB

Noting that the Congress leadership managed to name Satheesan as the Kerala CM 10 days after the Assembly election results, during which the CMs of other states, which also went to polls in April, had already been sworn in, the New Delhi edition of Inquilab, in its May 16 editorial, says that the delay indicated the party’s “weakness as well as strength”. “It betrayed a weakening of the Congress high command’s power. For, gone are the days when it could just swiftly issue diktats which would be cast in stone. However, the episode also reflected the grand old party’s moral authority as it finally chose Satheesan for the top job in accordance with democratic principles,” the edit states.

The Congress did not pick its Kerala CM face through a writ but adopted a consultative process to do it over several days, states the daily. “Besides weighing the views of its legislators, the party took into account public feedback while also considering the recommendations of its UDF allies. It appointed senior leaders Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik as central observers for this purpose,” it says. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also consulted senior party leaders from Kerala before deciding in favour of Satheesan, overlooking the claims of AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and party veteran Ramesh Chennithala.

The editorial notes that Venugopal is close to Rahul and is known in Congress circles as “Delhi’s man”. “Venugopal has had traction among the newly elected MLAs. But Satheesan is a mass leader connected to ground-level politics. The UDF’s second largest constituent IUML also preferred Satheesan, arguing that as the LoP in the state Assembly for five years he took on the then LDF government from the front before steering the coalition to victory,” the edit says. “While Kerala may not be a state where the Congress would face any ‘Operation Lotus’ threat from the BJP, the party still took its time as it moved cautiously to choose the new CM. This decision may yield dividends for the party.”

SIASAT

Referring to the move of the public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) to hike petrol and diesel prices by Rs 3 per litre (they subsequently raised these prices by 90 paise, the second hike in less than a week), the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in its May 16 editorial, points out that the Modi government cleared the decks for this decision by highlighting the financial strain of these companies amid the West Asia conflict. The Centre claimed that the OMCs were bleeding, suffering a cumulative daily loss of over Rs 1,000 crore on the sale of these fuels, it notes. “The government has sought to build up an atmosphere for the auto fuel hikes, asking people to reduce their consumption. It has asked people to cut down on the use of edible oil too. Referring to the West Asia war, it has cited surging global fuel prices as the factor behind the crisis.”

The daily writes that the increase in fuel prices will have a cascading impact on essential items of people’s daily lives, setting off a new wave of inflation. It points out that the state-run firms have already increased the prices of commercial gas cylinder sharply, which would raise the eateries’ rates besides aggravating the problem of unemployment. The prices of milk have also been hiked, putting more pressure on our household budgets. “Common people are now bracing for an escalation in price rise – from transport to living expenses — and hardship, with the government passing on a part of the OMCs’ burden to people. When global fuel prices were low, the government did not transfer its proportionate benefits to people,” the edit says, adding that the inflation would cause more distress among people who have already been reeling from multiple challenges.