The NEET issue rocked the Lok Sabha, where Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda accused the chair of switching off Rahul Gandhi’s microphone. This happened amidst the heated debate over the National Eligibility-Entrance Test, which turned out to be one of the contentious issues that saw widespread debate and protests across the country. The NEET examination has remained controversial for quite a long period of time, with others accusing it of being too stressful for rural and economically backward students.
Its proponents argue that NEET would ensure one uniform evaluation system for admissions into medical and dental courses and thus safeguard several principles of meritocracy in professional education. Hooda alleged that when former Congress president and heavyweight leader Rahul Gandhi tried to speak on the NEET issue during the parliamentary session, his microphone was deliberately switched off. The act of switching off his microphone stifled the voice of opposition and did not let them present their viewpoint effectively, alleged Hooda.
That infuriated many opposition members, and some MPs from various parties came forward against the alleged censorship. They said that such actions have a tendency to underline the democratic spirit of parliamentary proceedings, wherein every elected representative should have equal freedom and the right to express his views.
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From within, the question of the NEET problem itself has been an area of turbulence in Indian politics, with varied perspectives from different states and stakeholders regarding its execution and fallouts. Many states wanted autonomy to conduct their own entrance examinations since medical education admissions have been centralized. Just when the uproar in the Lok Sabha was at its maximum rise, the Speaker of the House interjected, trying to restore calm by promising a probe into the incident, but it seemed to have very little effect as opposition MPs continued to agitate over an alleged deliberate attempt to gag their leader. As the NEET debate unfolded both inside and outside Parliament, pertaining to its implications, the Rahul Gandhi microphone incident has managed to add just another layer of contention to an already contentious issue.
Further deliberations in the coming days, with stakeholders trying to address concerns raised by various parties over the future of medical education admissions in India, are sure to see more deliberations and political maneuvering.
