PM Modi gains 1 million Instagram followers overnight following selfie video on NEET paper leak

A late-night direct message to students delivered via a selfie video sparked a massive surge on social media for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earning him approximately 1 million new Instagram followers overnight amid ongoing fallout over the NEET paper leak. 

The video message, captioned "More strict actions against paper leaks to come in tomorrow's Cabinet!", racked up over 271 million views, 15 million likes, and 1.3 million comments on the platform. The sudden influx pushed the Prime Minister's total follower count on Instagram to 102 million. 

Addressing the anxiety and anger surrounding the examination irregularities, PM Modi sought to reassure affected candidates and parents directly. 

"I know that paper leak is not an ordinary issue. It is very painful for lakh of students and their guardians," he said in the video. 

Highlighting the steps taken following the leak, the Prime Minister detailed the government's response and immediate priorities. 

"Numerous effective measures have been taken in the past two and a half months since the paper leak incident. The culprits have been caught and are in jail. Our most important responsibility was to ensure that students' year is not wasted. The government used all its might to ensure that 22 lakh students could take their exams in the shortest possible time," he added.  

Following the social media address, the Union Cabinet cleared amendments to the anti-paper leak law on Friday, introducing significantly harsher penalties for examination leaks.

Under the revised legislation, offenders face up to 10 years in prison and fines reaching Rs 10 crore, alongside an increase in the minimum jail term from three years to five years. 

In a late evening development, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has terminated the services of 47 officials as part of what is being described as a major overhaul of the examination body, which has remained under scrutiny over paper leak controversies.

Apart from the dismissals, legal and criminal proceedings are also set to be initiated against some of the officials.
On July 22, the Education Ministry informed the Rajya Sabha that the NTA was functioning with only 24 permanent employees against a sanctioned strength of 39 posts. The agency has also been relying on 73 contractual employees and 124 outsourced personnel to manage its operations.