Prayagraj

Posters criticising Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over the Jharkhand students' protest were put up at several places across Prayagraj on Saturday, ahead of his 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' programme.

The posters appeared at various locations in the city ahead of Gandhi's scheduled programme at KP Ground, where he is expected to interact with students and job aspirants and raise issues concerning education, recruitment and employment.

The posters criticised Gandhi in connection with the Jharkhand students' protest.

The Congress has projected the 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' programme as a platform to highlight concerns of students and job aspirants. Issues such as alleged paper leaks, delayed recruitments, rising education costs and alleged irregularities in examination systems are expected to be raised during the event.

Ahead of the event, Gandhi said the government "bends only when voices rise together", referring to student protests over alleged paper leaks and recruitment issues.

"I'm heading to Prayagraj - to that city in the country where the most youth prepare. One thing is clear: every student here knows that the system has turned dishonest. There's no shortfall in your hard work - the fault lies in the intent of that system which doesn't reward your efforts," Gandhi said in a post on X.

"Paper leaks, stalled recruitments, years of waiting, and no one held accountable. In Kota, students spoke up; in Dehradun, voices rose again; and in Delhi, these very kids were beaten with batons - just for asking questions," he added.

The 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' campaign focuses on issues including examination paper leaks, coaching fees, access to education and employment opportunities. The Congress has announced that the initiative will include protests, public outreach programmes and discussions across the country, including in Parliament, with participation from its student wing NSUI and Youth Congress.

During the Dehradun leg of the campaign, Gandhi had interacted with the father of a student who allegedly died by suicide following the NEET paper leak controversy.

At the programme held at Bannu School Ground in Dehradun, the father urged Gandhi to raise the issue in Parliament so that no other family suffers similar pain.

Gandhi had also alleged that over the past decade, around 7.5 crore young students had suffered due to paper leaks. "High technology is being used in India to facilitate exam paper leaks. You can find these papers on the internet, on Telegram or Signal, if you have crores of rupees. This is the state of India's education system," he had said.

He further claimed that there had been "152 paper leaks" in the last decade and alleged that the conviction rate in such cases was zero.

"There have been 152 leaks, meaning, on average, one paper leak every month for the past decade. Yet, the reality is that the conviction rate is zero. Not a single person has gone to jail or been punished in connection with these cases," Gandhi had said.

The Congress has also demanded a comprehensive overhaul of the education system, alleging that the government's approach lacks vision.

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The programme, scheduled for August 8 at 5 PM, comes as part of Congress' nationwide student outreach campaign, which was launched to highlight issues affecting young people and demand accountability from the government on education and employment-related concerns.