New Delhi, Jun 28 (IANS): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday made a fresh appeal to the government to initiate a debate on the National Eligibility and Entrance Examination (NEET) and also over the paper leak controversy, to assuage the concerns and anxiety of lakhs of candidates and their families.

The Congress leader, issuing a video message on his social media handle, urged the government for a constructive and dedicated discussion on the issue while underlining the gravity of the issue, claiming that 70 times in 7 years, the papers have been leaked.

"We urge the Prime Minister to debate on this issue and give the students the respect they deserve," he wrote while sharing his two-minute video appeal.

He described the recently conducted NEET exams as a 'disaster' for lakhs of aspirants and said, "their dreams and aspirations have been destroyed and ridiculed while middlemen made crores of money. Over 2 crore students have been affected due to this".

Rahul Gandhi said that as Leader of Opposition in the House, today he tried to raise the issue in Parliament, but his voice was suppressed, apparently at the behest of the Prime Minister.

"I tried to raise the issue in Parliament, but I wasn't allowed to speak. There is a systemic problem, there is a huge amount of corruption. It can't continue like this," he stated.

The Congress leader further said that there was unanimous agreement among the Opposition members that an issue like NEET mandates a serious and dedicated discussion and added that it is unfortunate that the government did not want this.

"When I sought the opinion of Opposition members for detailed debate on NEET, all concurred on it," he said.

He said that the NEET imbroglio has affected a vast number of students and the government must be seen 'comforting' the students in such times of anxiety.

"Students want a permanent solution quickly. The idea was to have a resolution on fighting this exam mafia menace and provide the affected families clarity on their wards future," Rahul Gandhi said.

He further accused the Prime Minister of stalling a debate on the NEET issue in Parliament and said the directions for stopping him from asking questions came directly from the top.

"When Prime Minister should be seen leading the discussion on the issue and should be briefed about what steps his government is taking on the issue, he doesn't want to debate," he said, while adding that the INDIA bloc just wants to place its views on the table.

Notably, the NEET (UG) 2024 examinations were conducted on May 5 in around 570 cities, including 14 cities abroad.

Over 23 lakh students and medical aspirants appeared for the examinations.

However, it got marred by the paper leak controversy, thereby putting the future of many students in peril.