Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw a significant surge in his social media presence, gaining roughly one million new Instagram followers overnight. This rapid increase followed the release of a selfie video where the Prime Minister directly addressed the anxieties and frustrations surrounding the recent NEET paper leak.
Social Media Impact and Reach
The video message, captioned with a promise of "More strict actions against paper leaks to come in tomorrow's Cabinet!", quickly went viral. It amassed over 271 million views, garnered 15 million likes, and drew 1.3 million comments on the platform. This sudden influx propelled PM Modi's total Instagram follower count to an impressive 102 million.
Government's Stance on Examination Irregularities
In his late-night address, Prime Minister Modi aimed to reassure the affected students and their guardians directly. "I know that paper leak is not an ordinary issue. It is very painful for lakh of students and their guardians," he stated, acknowledging the widespread distress caused by the examination irregularities.
He further elaborated on the government's proactive measures taken in the two and a half months since the incident. "Numerous effective measures have been taken... The culprits have been caught and are in jail. Our most important responsibility was to ensure that students' year is not wasted. The government used all its might to ensure that 22 lakh students could take their exams in the shortest possible time," Modi affirmed, highlighting efforts to mitigate the impact on students.
New Law and NTA Overhaul
Following the Prime Minister's social media address, the Union Cabinet approved crucial amendments to the anti-paper leak law. The revised legislation introduces significantly harsher penalties for those involved in examination leaks, including prison sentences of up to 10 years and fines reaching Rs 10 crore. The minimum jail term for such offenses has also been increased from three to five years.
Concurrently, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which has been under intense scrutiny, has initiated a major overhaul. In a recent development, the NTA terminated the services of 47 officials. Legal and criminal proceedings are also expected to be launched against some of the dismissed personnel. Previously, on July 22, the Education Ministry informed the Rajya Sabha that the NTA was operating with only 24 permanent employees against a sanctioned strength of 39 posts, relying heavily on 73 contractual and 124 outsourced personnel.