NEW DELHI: Fearing possible heckling and “uncomfortable questions”, the Union Human Resources Development Ministry has decided not to invite college and university students to an event that will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivering pep talk on examinations next week.
‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’, mainly targeted at students appearing in board examinations and their parents, is scheduled for January 20, but only 2,000 school students from Classes IX to XII are being allowed to participate in the mega event at Talkatora Stadium in the national capital.
In the last two editions of the event — organised by an event management company — about 500 university students, apart from schoolchildren, had been called.
The participants had even been allowed to ask questions related to examinations, studies and life.
However, in view of the current unrest in many universities across the country, the school education and literacy department of the HRD Ministry has decided to keep adult students out of the event in its third year.
“Due to the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act in various campuses, we did not want to take a chance this time as college students can be difficult to manage and aggressive and may ask uncomfortable questions,” said an official. School students, on the other hand, are “disciplined and listen to teachers accompanying them”, he added.
Another official said the last two years, the college students who were brought to the event belonged to public institutions of higher education in Delhi and many of them were affiliated with the ABVP, the student wing of BJP.
“But even they can get unruly, like it happened last time when one student started shouting as he wanted to ask a question,” said the official.
“He was not allowed to ask the question but it was quite embarrassing.”
Of the total school students selected to attend the event, 1,050 will come from States and Union Territories while the rest will be from Delhi.