The father of a 21-year-old NEET aspirant who died by suicide in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri has said he wishes his son had lived to see the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, describing it as a moment that came too late.
The Centre has accepted the Cockroach Janata Party's demand to provide compensation to the families of NEET-UG aspirants who died by suicide. But for Anup Mishra, whose son Ritik took his own life earlier this year, no announcement can make up for the loss.
When the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak came to light, Ritik was devastated because it was his third attempt at the examination, he said.
Mishra said the government's decision to cancel the exam pushed his son into despair, and that he died by suicide on May 14, a day before the re-test was announced.
Speaking by phone from a hospital in Lucknow, where he is caring for his ailing wife, the 46-year-old said he believed Pradhan's resignation should have come sooner.
"If he had tendered his resignation earlier, such brutality upon our young generation could have been averted," Mishra said, referring to the police action against protesting students at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on July 20.
He praised the students whose weeks-long agitation kept the issue in the national spotlight, saying their determination had compelled the government to act.
"The young generation, with their firm determination and unwavering will, forced the government to restructure the educational system for future generations. However, seeing the police brutality upon students who were protesting peacefully at Jantar Mantar was heartbreaking. These young people were fighting for nothing but a transparent system," he added.
Despite welcoming the developments, Mishra said they were tinged with personal sorrow. "Its rather painful to see that my son is no longer with us to witness these developments; however, this agitation would benefit other youths across the country."
He said the movement would have meaning if it prevented other families from enduring similar tragedies.
"If this movement brings positive improvements in the examination system and prevents students from depression and families from such tragedy as we have experienced, we would feel somewhat consoled."
Asked about the government's assurance of maximum monetary compensation for the families of the 21 NEET aspirants who died by suicide, Mishra said no amount of money could replace his son.
"Any compensation could not fill the gap that his son's death had created."
"The pain, the stress, and the grief our family of me, my wife, and our elder daughter has experienced, no amount of money can compensate," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)