Stating that news of another paper leak is emerging from former Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan's home state Odisha, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday said merely mandating stronger punishments or designating courts as 'fast-track' is not sufficient, and a more hones conversation is needed on corruption in the education system.
Jairam Ramesh said the prime minister is working on his reel-making skills, and the Union government is passing its "eyewash legislation" on fast-track special courts, while the alleged sharing of an Odisha medical examination quesion paper on WhatsApp has come to the fore.
A question paper of the Odisha University of Health Sciences' postgraduate examination was found circulating on WhatsApp, even while the exam was underway on 27th July, Ramesh said on X.
"The Congress' consistent stance -- in 2024 and now in 2026 -- has been that merely mandating stronger punishments for paper leaks or designating courts as 'fast-track' is not sufficient," the Congress general secretary (communications) said.
"We need to have a larger, more honest conversation on the commercialisation and corruption in our education system.
That was the spirit of the student movement, one which the Modi Government must honour," he said.
Amid nationwide outrage over the alleged NEET paper leak, photographs of a question paper of the All Odisha Medical PG Examination was found forwarded on a social media platform on July 27, when the theory exam of a subject of the 2023-26 batch PG students was underway, according to officials.
Some individuals have claimed that answers were circulated from certain numbers while the test was underway, they said.
The matter came to light when a student of a private medical college in Bhubaneswar allegedly possessing the photographs of the question paper flagged the issue and disclosed that he had received it from a WhatsApp group formed by a student of MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur, an official said.
After learning about the incident in the evening of July 27, Odisha University of Health Sciences (OUHS) vice-chancellor Manas Ranjan Sahoo held a virtual meeting with principals of medical colleges where the PG medical exams were held.
He suggested tightening security for the next exams, MKCG Medical College and Hospital dean-cum-principal Harekrushna Dalai said.
"It is not a question paper leak. Had the question paper come out before the exam and reached the students, we could have termed it a leak. But, in this case, the question paper came out from the exam hall," Dalai said.
"Despite our routine checking and disallowing of mobile phone sets in the exam hall, we are surprised to find such instances. We wonder what type of electronic devices were used to share images of the question paper," he added.
An internal investigation is underway to find out what device was used and how the paper was circulated, he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
