Rahul Gandhi calls for political consensus to end the ‘paper-leak industry’
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday (July 17, 2026) called for a political consensus to eliminate paper leaks and
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday (July 17, 2026) called for a political consensus to eliminate paper leaks and overhaul India’s examination system, alleging that recurring leaks were undermining the aspirations of millions of students and their families. Addressing a public rally, “Chhatron Ki Goonj”, in Dehradun, Mr. Gandhi said the country needed to move away from what he described as a government-centric examination system to a student-centric one that was flexible, secure and insulated from political influence. “We need to build political consensus to end this paper leak industry,” he said. Gandhi advocated a modern testing model with secure question banks and randomised question papers, arguing that technology could be used to prevent leaks rather than facilitate them. “In a single examination hall, different students can be given different question papers. Tests such as the GMAT and SAT use such systems,” he said, adding that examinations should also be conducted with greater flexibility instead of forcing all candidates to appear on the same day.
He said educational institutions and examination bodies should function independently of political influence, arguing that Vice-Chancellors and the heads of testing agencies should not have political affiliations. He also opposed outsourcing examinations to private entities driven by profit. “Examination is the government’s responsibility,” he said. Gandhi further called for strict punishment for those involved in leaking question papers, immediate re-examinations when leaks occur, and compensation for students affected by such incidents. The Congress leader framed paper leaks as the fourth of four major injustices confronting young people. The others, he said, were the high cost of preparing for examinations, shrinking employment opportunities outside the government sector, and the extremely low probability of securing a government job despite years of effort. Families often spent up to ₹9 lakh over five years supporting a child’s preparation for competitive examinations, Mr. Gandhi said, adding that many candidates studied for eight to ten hours a day and that entire families shared the burden of the preparation process.
According to Mr. Gandhi, government employment had become the primary aspiration for many young people because opportunities in “manufacturing, entrepreneurship, information technology and the public sector had diminished”. He claimed that of the nearly nine crore people seeking government jobs, only around six lakh eventually succeeded. “Out of every 150 young people, only one will succeed,” he said. Gandhi alleged that there are rate cards to acquire the examination papers for various competitive tests. He cited examples ranging from the Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) to recruitment examinations conducted by different States. He claimed that technology platforms such as Telegram and Signal were increasingly being used to distribute leaked papers and described the problem as an “epidemic”. Using the analogy of an iceberg, Mr. Gandhi argued that known cases of paper leaks represented only a small visible part of a much larger problem. He alleged that more than 152 competitive examinations had been compromised and claimed that there had been no convictions in such cases.
The BriefWire