NEW DELHI, 28 JUNE

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a "respectful" and good discussion in Parliament on the issue of alleged irregularities in the conduct of the NEET exam as it concerns the country's youth and their future.

Addressing reporters in Parliament complex, Gandhi said “the NEET issue should be discussed before the Motion of Thanks on the President's address is taken up’’. The NEET issue is the most important issue of the day, and the opposition parties have agreed that it should be taken up for discussion before anything else, the Congress leader told reporters.

"The youth are worried and they do not know what is going to happen. A message and assurance should go to the youth from Parliament that India's government and the opposition are together in raising the concerns of students," he said.

Gandhi said the INDIA bloc thinks this is the most important matter. "I request the prime minister that since this is an issue concerning the youth, there should be a good and respectful discussion on the issue concerning the youth," he said, urging them to join the discussion. He said the opposition members will hold the discussion respectfully.

The former Congress chief said during their meeting on Thursday, all opposition floor leaders unanimously felt that there should be a discussion on the NEET issue in Parliament. "I want to tell the students of the country that this is their issue and we all in the INDIA bloc feel that your issue is the most important as you are India's future" Gandhi said.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG was conducted by the NTA on May 5 with around 24 lakh candidates taking part in it. The results were announced on June 4, but they were followed by allegations of question paper leaks in states such as Bihar, besides other irregularities.

The Education Ministry also cancelled the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) and NEET (postgraduate) examinations after receiving inputs that the exams' "integrity may have been compromised”.