SSC Paper Leak: PM Modi Trolled on Twitter For Being ‘Insensitive’ Towards Students

A recent Tweet by Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not go down well with Twitterati, especially hundreds of students protesting against the SSC paper leak.

“I am always eager to interact with the youth of India,” Modi wrote on the microblogging website on Saturday sharing a news report published in a Hindi daily.

I am always eager to interact with the youth of India, says PM @narendramodi. pic.twitter.com/O5vc2I6XTl

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 5, 2018

Taking him head on, Twitter users – mostly students – rubbished Modi’s claim, suggesting him to meet the protesting youth in the national capital. They also asked him not to make tall claims, threatening to dethrone him in the 2019 general elections.

“Then sir, pls talk to those youngesters, who are sitting on roads of Delhi. They r waiting for u to respond. #SSCExamsScam #SSCScam #sscscam #SSCPaperLeak #SSC_SCAM @narendramodi,” wrote one Sachin Dixit, replying to the PM Modi’s tweet.

Hundreds of students have been protesting at the office of the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) in New Delhi since February 27 seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into reported paper leak in the Combined Graduate-Level (CGL) examination conducted by the commission on February 21.

Another Twitter user – Premsukh Choudhary – urged the PM not to fool people. “Stop making fool. You did not utter a single word in the past four years on job creation,” he said.

Taking a jibe at the Modi’s pakoda remarks, Babita writes, “The Saheb in fact has to get pakodas fried by youth under the ‘Make in India’ (scheme). He has a grand project for pakoda making - ‘Pradhan Mantri Pakoda Yojna’, which will ensure youth welfare.”

The PM had said in January during a TV interview that selling pakodas, too, is a job.

Terming the PM’s statement a “joke”, Anita writes, “Modiji, why do you make such a big joke? (We are) unable to tolerate.”

Jeet Bahadur threatens Modi to teach him a lesson in the Lok Sabha elections to held next year. “Why do you make tall claims, we have recognised you. Let 2019 elections to be held, (we will) teach you a lesson,” he said.

Accusing the PM of concentrating on election campaigns instead of working for the welfare of people in general and youth in particular, Chandan tweeted, “@PMOIndia and @narendramodi #sscscam while the prime minister is busy with election campaigns, students’ future is at stake. The illiterate prime minister is so greedy of power that he is ignoring the future of laks of students.”

Sam Negi shared a video of the protest and wrote, “@PMOIndia and @narendramodi Youth are sitting in queues to talk to you. You are unable to find us, nor are we. When will we meet @narendramodi ji.”

Akash Malhotra asks the PM the reason behind his “eagerness” to meet the youth of the country. “Why do you want to meet unemployed youth, to tell them to make pakodas?” he wrote.

Prashant writes, “Sir, we all are youths...you did not exhibit the eagerness to meet us. Seven days have passed and our friends are still sitting on the roads. You took the #SSCScam lightly.”

Meanwhile, the government finally gave in to the protesting students’ demand on Sunday and ordered a probe by the central investigating agency. “We have accepted the demands of protesting candidates and have given orders for CBI inquiry. The protest should now stop,” said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Though the students welcomed the move, they said that the protests will not be called off “until a proper format is released”.

“We welcome Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s decision, but we are not going to call off the agitation until a proper format is released. We will see if our demands are being met or not. This not merely a question of ‘leak’ of question papers, it is a scam and nothing less than a full-fledged time-bound inquiry is going to calm the situation in the capital,” said many protesters Newsclick spoke to.

They alleged that the government with connivance of the Delhi Police is applying all tricks to scuttle their protest. “Plain-clothed policemen along with Intelligence Bureau officials have been sent to join our protest to create friction among us. They will try to bring in internal resistance by protesting a cumulative decision we would make,” said a protester.

A girl student alleged that the agitators are made to suffer atrocities. “Many of us were beaten up by the police. They were detained in police stations for entire day. We are not allowed to use mattress to put on the ground. All nearby public lavatories have been shut. We are surviving on food we get once in a day. We are hurt but not tired. Twenty people have so far been admitted in the hospital, with two of them are in serious medical conditions. We are feeling weak but not tired. We will fight for the cause till last breathe” she said.

“We study day and night to prepare meticulously for the examination but wealthy aspirants get admission and our hard work is ignored because of not having financially sound. One gets 180 and above marks out of 200 by offering bribe. Their question papers are solved by experts; whereas, we fail to make the cut-off despite hard work and meticulous study,” alleged another.

Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare also met the protesting students on Sunday and appealed them to walk on the path of non-violence and demanded the government to take action in this regard.

“While opposing injustice and harassment, it is extremely important to walk on the path of non-violence. This strengthens the democracy,” he told the protesters.

The SSC conducts examinations for recruitment to clerical posts in the central government.