Students from INDIA Alliance Student Organisations along with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, stage a protest against NEP 2020, UGC Draft rules and paper leaks at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Monday, March 24, 2025.
| Photo Credit: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) wants to destroy the future and the education system of the country, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said on Monday (March 24, 2025) while addressing a protest rally of INDIA bloc’s students organisations against the education policies of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. “If the education system goes into their hands, which is actually happening slowly, this country will be destroyed. No one will get jobs and the country will be finished,” Mr. Gandhi said.
He asked the students’ organisations to tell students that the vice-chancellors of Indian universities are dominated by the RSS. “In the coming time, state universities’ VCs will be appointed on the recommendation of the RSS. We have to stop this,” he said.
He said that Mr. Modi does not speak a word about unemployment, inflation and education system. Their model is to hand over all resources to Adani and Ambani and hand over institutions to the RSS. “You are students of the INDIA bloc, there may be some differences in our ideologies and policies but we can never compromise on the education system of the country. We will fight this fight together and push back the RSS,” he said. Mr. Gandhi added that the UGC’s draft is part of the the agenda of the RSS to impose “one history, one tradition, one language” on the country.
One of the organisers of the protest and the general secretary of Students Federation of India, Mayukh Biswas, told The Hindu that a similar protest would be held in Mumbai on Wednesday. “We have been continuously fighting in a united manner against the National Education Policy since its implementation. Now, with the University Grants Commission (UGC) amending its regulations on VC appointments, the higher education sector is completely going towards corporate control. As Donald Trump shut down the Education Ministry in the United States, Mr. Modi and the RSS want to dismantle the education systems here and hand it over to a few corporate houses. We will oppose it at any cost,” Mr. Biswas said.
The students leader said school education has also faced a similar crisis after the implementation of the NEP.
“The march saw overwhelming participation from students representing universities across the country, reaffirming the collective opposition to the privatisation-communalisation nexus in education,” he said, adding that all major student organisations in the country participated in the march.
Published – March 24, 2025 10:46 pm IST