The Crossbill Team
A political controversy has emerged in Parliament after senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh moved a privilege notice against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, alleging that remarks made by the minister undermined the authority and functioning of parliamentary institutions.
The notice was submitted to Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan on Monday (May 18, 2026) and later shared publicly by Ramesh on social media.
Congress leader and Member of Parliament Jairam Ramesh has written to the chairman of Rajya Sabha C.P. Radhakrishnan on Monday (May 18, 2026), formally raising a privilege issue against Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The notice of motion of privilege, which he shared on X, is in response to the minister’s recent remarks about the reports of Parliamentary Standing Committees.
On May 15, during a press conference about the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for undergraduate admissions (NEET-UG) paper leak, the minister was asked why, despite recommendations of a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education regarding the National Testing Agency (NTA), some of the issues it had “red-flagged” had resurfaced in form of a paper leak.
The minister’s response (about 24 minutes into his interaction with mediapersons) was that he would not comment on the Standing Committee report. He said he preferred to instead speak about another expert committee, the High-Level Committee on Examinations reforms (HLCE) headed by former ISRO chief Dr K. Radhakrishnan, formed in June 2024. Pradhan also suggested that since the standing committee has opposition members, therefore, its reports are politically influenced.
“I will not go by the observations in the parliamentary standing committee report. In parliamentary standing committees, especially when opposition-party leaders enter, the way they then write reports, you know better than me how they work,” Pradhan said.
Ramesh, who is general secretary in-charge of communications for the Congress party and the party’s chief whip in Rajya Sabha, writes in his notice that these and some other remarks of the minister are derogatory towards parliament and its Standing Committees and formed an attempt to delegitimise the bipartisan parliamentary institution. The note also accuses the education minister of making statements that undermine the neutrality of Standing Committees.
“The above conduct of the Minister of Education constitutes a grave breach of privilege and contempt of the House,” Ramesh writes, adding, ““In fact, it is a perfect case of such breach of privilege and contempt and a fit case for action by you since the Standing Committee on Education is one of the eight standing committees of the Rajya Sabha.”
The report whose veracity has been questioned by the minister was prepared by a 31-member standing committee, of whom 15 are MPs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (Pradhan’s party), 12 are from the opposition parties including Congress, Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and one of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham. One seat was vacant. Two were members of parties affiliated with the BJP. The committee was chaired by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.
The standing committee report contains multiple observations and recommendations as well as requests for greater transparency by the government. Released on December 8, 2025, it lists several examinations conducted by NTA that reportedly ran into trouble in 2024-25 alone, including the University Grants Commission’s National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET), the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) NET and NEET for post graduate admissions, which had to be postponed.
There were reported paper leak issues in NEET undergraduate exams and the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for under- and post-graduate exams results were postponed. It notes that the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main examination in 2025 saw 12 questions withdrawn due to errors in the final answer key.
The report then says that some paper setting, administration and correction firms blacklisted by some states still manage to secure contracts elsewhere.
The privilege notice has added to the growing debate over examination reforms and the functioning of oversight mechanisms, with attention now turning to how the Rajya Sabha chair will respond to the
The notice was submitted to Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan on Monday (May 18, 2026) and later shared publicly by Ramesh on social media.
Congress leader and Member of Parliament Jairam Ramesh has written to the chairman of Rajya Sabha C.P. Radhakrishnan on Monday (May 18, 2026), formally raising a privilege issue against Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The notice of motion of privilege, which he shared on X, is in response to the minister’s recent remarks about the reports of Parliamentary Standing Committees.
On May 15, during a press conference about the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for undergraduate admissions (NEET-UG) paper leak, the minister was asked why, despite recommendations of a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education regarding the National Testing Agency (NTA), some of the issues it had “red-flagged” had resurfaced in form of a paper leak.
The minister’s response (about 24 minutes into his interaction with mediapersons) was that he would not comment on the Standing Committee report. He said he preferred to instead speak about another expert committee, the High-Level Committee on Examinations reforms (HLCE) headed by former ISRO chief Dr K. Radhakrishnan, formed in June 2024. Pradhan also suggested that since the standing committee has opposition members, therefore, its reports are politically influenced.
“I will not go by the observations in the parliamentary standing committee report. In parliamentary standing committees, especially when opposition-party leaders enter, the way they then write reports, you know better than me how they work,” Pradhan said.
Ramesh, who is general secretary in-charge of communications for the Congress party and the party’s chief whip in Rajya Sabha, writes in his notice that these and some other remarks of the minister are derogatory towards parliament and its Standing Committees and formed an attempt to delegitimise the bipartisan parliamentary institution. The note also accuses the education minister of making statements that undermine the neutrality of Standing Committees.
“The above conduct of the Minister of Education constitutes a grave breach of privilege and contempt of the House,” Ramesh writes, adding, ““In fact, it is a perfect case of such breach of privilege and contempt and a fit case for action by you since the Standing Committee on Education is one of the eight standing committees of the Rajya Sabha.”
I have given notice of question of privilege under Rule 187 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States against the Union Minister of Education for having lowered the dignity of Parliament and Parliamentary Committees. He has made these outrageous… pic.twitter.com/UdkFW6g1tc
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 18, 2026
The report whose veracity has been questioned by the minister was prepared by a 31-member standing committee, of whom 15 are MPs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (Pradhan’s party), 12 are from the opposition parties including Congress, Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and one of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham. One seat was vacant. Two were members of parties affiliated with the BJP. The committee was chaired by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.
The standing committee report contains multiple observations and recommendations as well as requests for greater transparency by the government. Released on December 8, 2025, it lists several examinations conducted by NTA that reportedly ran into trouble in 2024-25 alone, including the University Grants Commission’s National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET), the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) NET and NEET for post graduate admissions, which had to be postponed.
There were reported paper leak issues in NEET undergraduate exams and the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for under- and post-graduate exams results were postponed. It notes that the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main examination in 2025 saw 12 questions withdrawn due to errors in the final answer key.
The report then says that some paper setting, administration and correction firms blacklisted by some states still manage to secure contracts elsewhere.
The privilege notice has added to the growing debate over examination reforms and the functioning of oversight mechanisms, with attention now turning to how the Rajya Sabha chair will respond to the
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