Stuff... and Things!!!

There have been massive protests going on in India right now opposing the education minister, Dharmendra Pradan, after his complete incompetence following the leak of an extremely important medical entrance examination called NEET.

NEET on its own, is a fucking mess. Before 2012, if you wanted to study to be a doctor in India, there were multiple different entrance tests. There were tests held by different states, and by colleges on their own. This means you can try entering different colleges across the country, your chances of getting in get higher.

NEET though, is one government exam, based on one syllabus that most Indians do not have access to, and if you don't do well on this, a year of your life is wasted. It is nigh impossible to study for this exam on your own, you need to go to coaching centers, which means money. So much fucking money because being a doctor is a way to break the class barrier for millions of people. It's one of the few opportunities where it's entirely dependent on education. Education's a goddamn struggle but if you go to a public school and do your best on an entrance exam, you have a shot.

With NEET, the coaching centers and the entire system created a giant class barrier. It's basically saying "if you don't come from a rich family, you're fucked."

Anyways, there's been a million issues with NEET year after year but this year they fucked up BIG TIME when the paper leaked.

"Nearly 2.3 million test-takers across India, and at examination centres in Doha, Dubai, Singapore and Kathmandu, appeared for the NEET this year on May 3, battling it out for less than 130,000 spots in medical colleges. But amid allegations of a paper leak, the Indian government announced on May 12 that the examination held nine days earlier had been voided, and another test would be held later. " Source: Al Jazeera

Twenty-one students(as far as that's been reported) committed suicide. This has been a recurring thing over the past decade. The rich buy the paper, the poor go into debt over a dream that grows increasingly out of reach.

Sonam Wangchuk, an educator and engineer, started a hunger strike which demanded the resignation of the Education Minister who is responsible for this mess. Sonam had been going for 20 days before he was forcibly removed from the premises of Jantar Mantar.

Now, students and citizens all across the country are gathering in the same place, calling for Modi and Pradhan to answer. Modi has not held a public address in his 12 years as Prime Minister.

India hasn't been a democracy for over a decade, longer perhaps. The poor get poorer, the rich build data centers and sell the lands of indigenous and tribal folk, the air quality depletes further, previously this year it was revealed even the cottage cheese sold is fake. The fuel is E20(Petrol containing 20% Ethanol) supposedly for sustainability when ethanol demands more water, created in an already parched country.