Chandigarh, Punjab (PTI): Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains on Monday slammed the opposition, accusing it of trying to defame the state through false narratives.
Speaking during the discussion on the condemnation resolution in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on the alleged repeated paper leaks in the country and the alleged atrocities against protesting students, Bains said the opposition avoided the debate because it had no answers to the transformation brought about by the Bhagwant Mann government in the education sector.
The Congress and BJP MLAs were not present in the House when the resolution was moved.
Punjab has emerged as India's No. 1 state in school education, become the first state to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) as a mainstream subject from Classes I to XII, recorded 882 government school students qualifying NEET-UG 2026 under Sikhya Kranti and maintained a clean record of not a single paper leak in the last four-and-a-half years, he said.
After the Congress MLAs sought his resignation over the alleged multiple paper leaks in the state, Bains said that he stood in the House to answer every question raised by the opposition.
"I was a law student. I understand the universal principle of natural justice, that even in the worst of systems, no one is punished without being heard. It is very easy to raise questions. I have stood here to answer the opposition," he said.
On the recent cheating racket unearthed during the pharmacy officer recruitment exam, Bains said the Haryana-based cheating syndicate used modified mobile phones, hidden wireless earpieces and other advanced gadgets to facilitate cheating during the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences pharmacy examination.
"This was not a paper leak. This was a technology-driven cheating operation busted by the Punjab Police. For years, the Haryana government looked away while this syndicate destroyed the future of thousands of students," he said.
He advised Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini to fix his own backyard before coming to Punjab to set political agendas.
Recalling Punjab's rich legacy of knowledge, courage and sacrifice, Bains said that from the hymns of the Rigveda to the world's first university at Takshila, Punjab had always been a land of learning.
Presenting the achievements of the Punjab government under the 'Sikhya Kranti' initiative, the education minister said Punjab's government schools had delivered record academic results.
He informed the House that 882 students from Punjab's government schools had qualified NEET-UG 2026, registering a cumulative increase of more than 100 per cent from 437 qualifiers in 2024.
Highlighting national recognition, the education minister said Punjab had climbed from the 27th position in 2020 to become the No. 1 ranked state in the NITI Aayog School Education Quality Report 2026, overtaking Kerala.
On the recent students' protest in Delhi, Bains described the Jantar Mantar agitation as a "Gen Z movement for policy change" and criticised those who branded the demonstrators as anti-national.
Recalling his visit to the protest site, Bains said he was the only education minister in the country to stand with the students.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
