SFI and DYFI leaders staging a protest in Vijayawada on Sunday.

| Photo Credit: G.N. RAO

The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) jointly organised a protest at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada on Sunday (June 7, 2026), demanding the immediate resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. They alleged that he was responsible for a series of failures by the National Testing Agency (NTA), including the NEET paper leak, irregularities in UGC-NET applications, flaws in CBSE evaluations, and the last-minute cancellation of CUET-UG examinations.Addressing the gathering, SFI State secretary K. Prasanna Kumar and DYFI State secretary G. Ramanna alleged that the Central government has been handling the future of millions of students from across the country with negligence. They stated that the NTA, which is responsible for conducting national-level entrance and competitive examinations, has completely failed in its duty.The leaders pointed out that recurring lapses in the conduct of examinations such as NEET, UGC-NET, and CUET over the past few years have created uncertainty among students, while the government has failed to implement meaningful reforms. They stated that the NEET paper leak has caused anxiety among millions of students and parents and criticised the government for not taking stringent action against those responsible.They further alleged that 22 students have died by suicide due to the mental distress caused by examination-related irregularities. Technical glitches in the UGC-NET application process, confusion in examination management, complaints regarding CBSE evaluation and the abrupt cancellation of CUET-UG examinations had severely affected students’ mental well-being, they said.The leaders demanded the abolition of NTA and called for the decentralisation of examination administration, including handing over the conduct of NEET to the States. They also demanded that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accept moral responsibility and resign immediately, warning that they would intensify their agitation if their demands were not met.DYFI State president Y. Ramu, district president P. Krishna, SFI State assistant secretary Sheikh Sameer and leaders Nizamuddin, Krishna, Raj Kumar, Praneetha and Shanmukh were among those who participated in the protest. Published - June 07, 2026 07:14 pm IST