NEW DELHI: Slamming the BJP over the issue of examination paper leaks, the Congress on Monday said this trend has been going on for the last 10 years and that is why unemployment and corruption in jobs are the biggest issues of this election.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the news of NEET exam paper leak is a "betrayal" of the dreams of more than 23 lakh students and their families.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) issued a clarification on the issue and said the reports claiming question paper leak in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG are "completely baseless and without any ground".

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "Be it the students who dream of getting admission in college after passing 12th or the promising youth who are struggling for government jobs, the Modi government has become a curse for everyone."

"The youth and their family, who have been paying the price of the BJP government's incompetence for the last 10 years with the destruction of their future, have now understood that there is a difference between speaking and running the government," he said.

The Congress has resolved to free the youth from paper leaks by making strict laws, Gandhi said and added that a healthy and transparent environment for students is the party's guarantee.

In a post in Hindi on X, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "Once again there are reports of NEET paper leak. The future of 24 lakh youth of the country was again at stake. This trend, which has been going on with crores of promising youth for the last 10 years, is showing no sign of stopping. Will the Prime Minister of the country say anything on this?" she said.

Noting that a law against paper leaks was passed in Parliament, the Congress general secretary asked where is that law and why is it not applicable.

"That is why unemployment and corruption in jobs are the biggest issues of this election. Our Nyay Patra resolves that paper leaks will stop. Recruitment will come out as per the calendar. The vacant posts will be filled. This playing with the future of the youth will stop and we will do this," she asserted.

Congress general secretary, in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, said news of NEET paper leak has come to light in Bihar.

"Apart from this, there have also been complaints from Rajasthan about wrong sets of question papers of NEET exam being distributed at the examination centres," he said.

"In the last 7 years, more than 70 papers have been leaked. Due to this, the future of more than 2 crore candidates has been ruined. Despite there being laws regarding paper leaks in many states, papers are being leaked," he said.

Citing some examples, Ramesh said 3. 75 lakh candidates had participated in the teacher recruitment examination in Bihar on March 15 but within a few days, the exam had to be cancelled due to paper leak.

"60 lakh candidates took part in the UP Police examination on February 17 and 18 February. On February 24, the Yogi government had to cancel the examination due to paper leak," he said.

Ramesh pointed out that one of the five 'Yuva Nyay' guarantees are 'Paper Leak Se Mukti'.

"Merely punishing the culprits involved in the paper leak is not enough. Our aim is to prevent any paper from being leaked," he said.

"Our laws will ensure the highest standards of honesty and fairness at every stage of the examination process -- from paper setting, printing, transportation, administration and inspection -- for paper-based and computer-based examinations," he said.

"For the youth who spend years preparing for these exams, and spend time and money hoping for a better future, it is important to ensure that the papers are not leaked. Freedom from paper leaks is our commitment to every hard working candidate," Ramesh asserted.