Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been criticised for her comments about some students using NEET paper leaks to prepare better and do better in order to improve performance which has not only led to an angry reaction from the public but a political backlash against her.
Sitharaman, who has been involved in the anti-paper leaks protests along with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), said some young people had been hurt by the leaked paper but then used it as a challenge to prepare more rigorously.
“There are young people who are coming out and saying yes, first it sort of hurt me when the paper leakages happened but later I took advantage of that and prepared even more and my performance has improved and I've done well,” Sitharaman said.
She said some students had overcome the situation and were able to do so successfully and the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were responding to the issue.
Opposition leaders and CJP members immediately criticised the comments, saying that the minister appeared to justify the consequences of a paper leak rather than call the alleged irregularities out.
CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka had reacted sharply on X, writing: “By this logic every paper in this country should get leaked.”
Mahua Moitra, Trinamool Congress MP, also questioned the remarks and asked whether the Finance Minister was indicating that students had more time to prepare after the leaked examination paper. She also called for the resignation of the Union Cabinet.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also criticised the statement, sarcastically referring to the idea of students benefiting from a re-examination after an alleged paper leak.
The controversy comes amid widespread protests over alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2026 examination. Thousands of students and protesters have demanded accountability and called for the resignation or removal of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Meanwhile, the second round of talks between the CJP and the Narendra Modi government ended without a final resolution. Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh discussed the issue with CJP representatives Saurav Dass and Ashutosh Ranka.
After more than two hours of talks, Ranka said the government had agreed “in principle” to two key demands raised by the demonstrators.
These included compensation of ₹1 crore for the families of students who died by suicide after the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and the withdrawal of FIRs registered in connection with violence during Monday’s march to Parliament.
Nevertheless, the protesters’ main demand— the resignation or removal of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan—remains unresolved.
Ranka said the government had asked for time until Saturday afternoon to respond to the demand. Both sides have agreed to hold another round of talks in Delhi on Saturday.
With Sitharaman’s comments in turn adding to the political tension even more, the next round of talks will be closely watched. The question of whether the Centre will agree to the protesters’ call for ministerial accountability while addressing the issue of examination integrity and alleged paper leaks is at stake.
