The Congress will hold press conferences across the country on Thursday as part of its nationwide campaign “Chhatron Ki Goonj” (Students’ Echo), aimed at highlighting issues faced by students, including alleged examination irregularities, rising education costs and concerns over India’s education system.
The party said the campaign is intended to initiate a national debate on education reforms and push for what it called a “modern, inclusive and future-ready” education system.
According to a statement by AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, 28 senior Congress leaders will address press conferences in different cities as part of the campaign.
The Congress has demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, alleging that the government has failed to address the challenges faced by students and has pursued policies centred around “privatisation, centralisation and Sanghification” of education.
The party said the country’s education sector is facing a crisis of both unemployment and employability, with students struggling over issues such as paper leaks, recruitment delays, high coaching fees and access to quality education.
Leaders have been assigned to address the press conferences in 28 cities, including Satej Patil in Ahmedabad, Varsha Gaikwad in Bengaluru, Imran Masood in Bhopal, Pawan Khera in Bhubaneswar, Gaurav Gogoi in Delhi, Priyank Kharge in Chennai, Supriya Shrinate in Kolkata and Kanhaiya Kumar in Pune.
The campaign comes amid the Congress’ efforts to highlight issues concerning students and job aspirants, including allegations linked to NEET-UG, recruitment examinations and educational expenses.
The party said the initiative will include protests, public outreach programmes and discussions across the country as well as in Parliament.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had earlier launched the campaign from Kota, Rajasthan, through a rally titled “Chhatron Ki Goonj Maha Rally”, focusing on concerns of students in the city known for its coaching institutes.
(With inputs from PTI)