Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh on Friday termed the ongoing student movement a “victory of democracy” and alleged that the country’s education system had been plagued by corruption and irregularities for years.
Speaking to reporters in Gwalior, the former Rajya Sabha MP levelled a series of allegations against National Testing Agency (NTA) Chairman Pradeep Joshi, claiming controversies surrounding him had been ignored despite repeated warnings.
“This is a victory of democracy. I served as the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education for nearly two years. I saw so much corruption and irregularity that no one can imagine. The extent of the scams is beyond description,” Singh, whose second tenure as Rajya Sabha MP concluded recently, said.
He claimed Joshi was first appointed to a post in Jabalpur in 2002 by the then governor Bhai Mahavir despite his objections. After the Congress government fell in Madhya Pradesh in 2003, Joshi was appointed chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC), Singh alleged.
The Congress leader alleged that large‑scale irregularities took place in the appointment of professors during Joshi’s tenure at the MPPSC. He claimed that then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered an inquiry into the matter, which found Joshi guilty, but the officer who conducted the probe was later transferred.
Singh further alleged that after the Congress raised the issue, Joshi was shifted to the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission, where another recruitment scam surfaced, eventually leading to his resignation. Despite these controversies, Joshi was later appointed a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and, after retiring from there, was made chairman of the NTA, Singh claimed.
“Ever since he took charge of the NTA, one controversy after another has surfaced, including the NEET paper leak. When I summoned him before the Parliamentary Standing Committee and asked how such irregularities occurred, he said he had no authority. If that was the case, he should have resigned immediately,” Singh alleged.