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The "Chhatron Ki Goonj" movement have reached the North-Eastern region of India with big energy on July 20 and July 21. Youth Congress and different student unions from Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Sikkim came out on the streets together. They are protesting against the continuous problem of paper leaks in national competitive examinations. Thousands of young people gathered in state capitals like Itanagar, Kohima, and Gangtok to make their voice heard. The main focus of this nationwide campaign is to show how much difficulty students are facing today. In all three states, student leaders spoke to the media and said that the education system are failing the youth. Many young candidates who prepares for months is losing their hope because papers gets leaked before the exam day. The rally on July 20–21 showed that the anger among students is not just in big cities, but it is spreading everywhere across the North-East region as well.
Main Demands Put Forward by Student Groups :
During these two days of heavy protests, the student organizations presented a list of strong demands to the administration. First of all, they want the central government to make a strict law at national level against paper leaks. Right now, small punishment is given to people who leak exam papers, so criminals does not feel any fear. The student bodies in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Sikkim said that hard punishment like long jail time should be fixed for paper leak gang. Secondly, they demanded that the Union Education Minister must resign because repeated exam failures has ruined the trust of students. The third demand is to create a proper annual exam calendar so dates does not change again and again. Students is asking for full transparency in how competitive exams like NEET and state recruitment tests are conducted. They said that without clean process, fair selection is impossible for normal candidates who come from poor background.
How Paper Leaks Are Affecting Students in North-East :
Students living in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Sikkim faces extra challenge compared to other big states. Many candidates travel long distances from small villages to city centers just to give one exam. They spend lots of hard earned money on coaching, books, and staying in pg accommodation. When an exam gets canceled due to paper leak, all their money and effort goes totally waste. Family of these students also suffer huge financial stress because they take loans for their child education. Student leaders explained that youth in the North-East already face job shortage and limited higher education options. When national exams gets corrupted, local students feel completely left behind. Due to this continuous problem, mental stress and tension among young job seekers are rising every single day. Many brilliant students is deciding to drop their studies because they think the system is completely unfair and corrupted.
Reactions from Local Community and Regional Leaders :
The two day protest on July 20–21 received lot of support from local people, parents, and community leaders in all three states. Many political figures from the regional Congress units also joined the rallies to support the young protestors. Leaders in Sikkim and Nagaland pointed out that government institutions needs to take direct responsibility for these repeated mistakes. They said that taking strict action only on small low level officers is not enough, and big officers who are managing the exam boards must be held accountable. In Arunachal Pradesh, local student bodies joined hands with Youth Congress workers to raise awareness in local colleges and coaching centers. Parents who came to support the rallies said that their children are studying 14 hours every day, but still their future is unsafe. The strong unity shown by different groups has forced local authorities to pay attention to these serious educational issues.
What Lies Ahead for the Student Movement :
The success of the July 20–21 rallies in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Sikkim has given a new speed to the nationwide movement. Student bodies has declared that they will not stop their agitation until the central government listens to their voices. In the coming weeks, they are planning to organize more rallies, candle marches, and signature campaigns across schools and colleges in the region. They also want to submit a detailed memorandum of demands to the state governors and higher authorities. Student representatives mentioned that if parliament does not discuss the paper leak issue seriously, they will escalate the protest to national capital. The main goal of "Chhatron Ki Goonj" is to build a fair system where merit is respected and hard work gets rewarded. Youth from North-Eastern states have made it very clear that they will keep fighting together until proper legal protection and clean examination system is guaranteed for every student.
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