00:00Okay, joining me now, first the big question, need free test preparation. Are they really foolproof? Are the curves on
00:08Telegram, the messaging app justified? Is this now going to be a big credibility test for the National Testing Agency?
00:15Joining me now, Pramod Maheshwari, Director and CEO, Career Point Quota, and Dr. Shikha Darbari, former Joint Secretary, Parliamentary Standing
00:23Committee on Education.
00:25I appreciate both of you joining me on the show today. First, the big story today, messaging app Telegram being
00:33banned. Pramod Maheshwari, do you believe that this will have a salutary impact?
00:38The government says Telegram was being used to spread fake messages that the papers could be leaked.
00:50You're on mute, sir. You have to unmute yourself, sir.
00:55Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I believe that this is a good step to save the confusion, to save the assurance
01:02from protesters and scammers.
01:05But this will not ensure that need paper will not be leaked. This is only an initiative to ensure that
01:14nobody spreads, you know, unnecessary kind of rumor that paper is being out and being, you know, and students are
01:21being exploited, the parents are being exploited.
01:23But I don't think that banning 1-8 will address the key concern that need paper or need paper will
01:30not be leaked.
01:31So, you know, more initiatives to be taken by the government and it's very difficult to build their trust after,
01:36you know, multiple failures and multiple years by the government and conducting the need examination.
01:44You know, rebuilding trust is the key, Dr. Shikha Dharbari. Do you believe papers being airlifted, we are showing these
01:50images, they are unprecedented.
01:52Is the government now in a position to restore trust or do you believe these measures are optics but on
02:01the ground the real test will take place on the 22nd?
02:05Certainly, I would like to say that this is, you know, it's like you are trying to kill a mosquito
02:11with a cannon.
02:13See, we have to see our weak points in the NTA system. We have to see the weak points in
02:19the whole sequence when the paper setter is being set, when the printing is being done, when the transport is
02:25being done, when the custody is being given.
02:27So, we have to see the whole sequence. And I would just like to add to the earlier question that
02:33telegram for telegram, even the DG NTA has himself accepted that it is not a foolproof measure.
02:39And actually, if you see that this kind of rumours will come only when the paper is leaked. So telegram
02:47is a channel that you, this is a social media channel.
02:51So, you know, it is a last channel after the leak. If the paper is leaked only then it will
02:57reach the telegram. So what we are doing by, you know, banning the telegram, we have to, you know, ensure
03:03that like in this case, we have not been till now we have not been able to punish the Sanjeev
03:10Mukhiya and the OSS school that was the culprits of 2024.
03:14When we allow the people to go, you know, it's got free. This is where the trust of the people
03:21go, go bad. Today, what we are doing today we are, you know, I, I really feel that we are
03:26criminalizing the education like we have criminalized the politics.
03:30Earlier, the people were fighting elections from the jail. Today, what's happening? The accused, Yash Yadav, he is being allowed
03:39to take exam from the jail. What we are doing in our democracy? What is this kind of justice that
03:44everybody is seeing?
03:46So trust factor is really at all. So you're not convinced? No, no, you're not. No, no, the government, the
03:53government says we are trying to make it foolproof because of all the pressure. We are airlifting the papers. We
03:59are doing what we are getting the air forces also got involved. You're not convinced that that will change things,
04:04ma'am?
04:05See, that, that, that, that I can say that because they have to conduct this paper in a very, very,
04:10you know, short time. So this will reduce the time. And obviously, this will help, help in the, you know,
04:17not leaking the paper. Because when we employ the defense forces, we have that confidence that they will not compromise
04:24at any point.
04:25And this is where the India's moral and ethical values also come into picture. That today, transparency international is trying
04:32to tell that our score is 39. It is above the global score. So what India is doing? We are
04:40making a Ram temple and we are the ethical values of Ram. So till the whole society, you know, they
04:47come up with the proper moral and ethical values.
04:50So you are, you are saying the real child. No, no, I take. No, no, but are you saying, are
04:56you saying therefore that the papers you believe still can be leaked even with all these, all these, this surveillance
05:02being put in place, you are telling me the papers can still be leaked, ma'am?
05:06I think this time they are taking extra, extra, extra care. Just like that once bitten, it's twice, it's twice
05:13shy. So they're trying to take all possible steps, which should not be taken in a normal, in a normal
05:20examination, which is conducted every year. Why these kinds of things?
05:23So what NTA is supposed to do is to reform itself. But yes, I'm, I'm quite sure this time the
05:29paper will not be leaked. And if it is leaked, then it will be the biggest disaster for our country.
05:39I take your point, Mr. Maheshwari, very quickly. Are you confident this time that the government has learned from its
05:44mistakes? Are coaching centers also now aware that they are also on test?
05:48Because in the past, their role has also come under scrutiny. Government says we are going to crack down on
05:53anyone who is caught up now anymore. We will have zero tolerance. Do you accept that? Do you believe everyone
05:59is on test now?
06:01So I think government is on the test for the sake, you know, for this neat examination, because they have
06:06to do the internal assessment. This time the paper was leaked by the government, by the government people in the
06:12NT office. It is not done by anybody outside the NT office. And they have not come up any, you
06:18know, answer to what they have done, that it will not happen within the NT office. There is no clarity
06:25on that front.
06:25They are saying that the Air Force is lifting the question paper. The question paper was not leaked by the
06:31transporters. It was not leaked by the test centers. It was not leaked at the center. It was leaked within
06:36the NT campus.
06:37Now, what they are doing, they have not come up with any answer to that, that how they have made
06:42sure that it will not happen within the NT office.
06:45And that is, I think, the biggest question to the government. I believe that this time they must have taken
06:50a lot of, you know, serious steps not to, so that paper doesn't get leaked, but still the answer is
06:57awaited from the government, what kind of precautions they have taken.
07:00Within the NT and within the ecosystem, which is setting up the question paper, that's the key question.
07:09Right. We will wait and see whether the government can pass the test. Forget about the students passing the test
07:19this time. This is a test now for the government of India, particularly for the education ministry and the NTA
07:25to pass this time. Appreciate my guests joining us.
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