Mallikarjun Kharge.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday alleged that the BJP-RSS has taken up the task of "destroying the education system" and asked why has the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) not conducted a single exam in the last four years.
Kharge's reaction came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks in Mumbai on Saturday emphasising that creation of eight crore new jobs in the last three to four years has "silenced" those spreading fake narratives about unemployment.
In a post in Hindi on X, Kharge said, "Narendra Modi ji, yesterday you were weaving a web of lies about providing jobs in Mumbai. I want to remind you again what you said while announcing NRA - National Recruitment Agency." "In August 2020 you said - 'NRA will prove to be a boon for crores of youths. Through the Common Eligibility Test, it will eliminate multiple examinations and save precious time as well as resources. This will also give a big boost to transparency'," he posted.
"We have 3 questions - Why has the NRA not conducted a single exam in the last 4 years? Why despite providing a fund of Rs 1,517.57 crore to NRA, only Rs 58 crore has been spent so far in 4 years? NRA was formed for recruitment to government jobs. Was the NRA deliberately kept inactive so that SC, ST, OBC and EWS youth could be deprived of their reservation rights?" Kharge said.
The Congress president alleged that the National Testing Agency (NTA) was used for "fraud, paper leak and scam", and the NRA not even allowed to conduct any exam.
The NTA is in the eye of a storm over allegations of irregularities in national competitive exams such as the NEET-UG.
"The BJP-RSS has taken up the task of destroying the education system and ruining the future of the youth " he alleged.
Kharge said the Congress had raised the issue of NRA earlier too, but the Modi government had taken a "vow of silence" on the issue.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh cited a media report which claimed that the NRA had not been able to conduct a single exam despite spending Rs 58 crore in the last four years.
"The central government announced 'one country, one exam' for the youth in 2020 and handed over the responsibility of this to the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) with great fanfare," he said.
"But this agency has not been able to conduct a single exam despite spending Rs 58 crore in the last 4 years," Ramesh said.
The NRA has also proved to be a failure like the NTA, he claimed.