Rahul Gandhi interacts with students enrolled in Rajasthan government's IIT-NEET coaching classes

KOTA: As Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra halted at a village in Bundi for lunch on Saturday, Rahul Gandhi interacted with more than 30 students taking free IIT-NEET coaching classes under the Rajasthan government's Mukhyamantari Anuprati scheme.

The nearly 45-minute interaction session in Arneta saw the participation of 33 students enrolled in three different coaching institutes in Kota city under the scheme aimed for the backward and economically weaker sections. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra were present as well.

Durgesh Vaishnav, a NEET aspirant from Sawai Madhopur district, informed Gandhi that his native village Sumanpura in Khandar tehsil had just one secondary-level government school and most girls of there were unable to pursue further studies because of that. On his interaction with Gandhi, Vaishnav later said, "After listening to my concerns, Rahul-ji looked at Chief Minister Gehlot, who assured to immediately upgrade the secondary-level school to senior secondary."

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He said it would come as a relief to girls in his area and that he was glad about Gandhi's instant positive response. "Rahul-ji is so simple and modest that I did not feel I was speaking not to such a big personality," the student added. IIT aspirant Khushi Meghwal, a student of Class 11, said, "When I told Rahul Gandhi about my passion for Taekwondo, he said he was a martial artist himself.

He also said he would ensure my enrolment at a nearby Taekwondo academy." Meghwal added that to her concerns about the cancellation of various government scholarship exams, Rahul Gandhi assured her of an inquiry into it. The Congress leader termed the existing education system in the country a "selection system", a faculty member of one of the coaching institutes the students are studying in said.

"Addressing the students, Rahul Gandhi said the education system in the country is actually a selection system. He said education teaches one to ask questions, but the existing system teaches how to get selected in exams," the faculty member added. The yatra started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7 and has so far covered the five southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana, and then traversed through Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. It will conclude in Jammu and Kashmir in early February 2023, covering 3,570 km in 150 days.