Deoria MP Shashank Mani Tripathi on the 2026 NEET crisis, India's growth story and entrepreneurship

The 2026 NEET crisis, caused by a leaked paper affecting nearly 22 lakh medical entrance candidates and compounded by irregularities in CBSE's on-screen marking system, led to weeks of protests at Delhi's Jantar Mantar and ultimately resulted in the ousting of India's Education Minister. In a discussion with Shradha Sharma, founder and CEO of YourStory and The Bharat Project, Shashank Mani Tripathi, a BJP MP from Deoria and founder of Jagriti Yatra, emphasized that the crisis highlights the need for alternative measures of success beyond exams.

Tripathi, an IIT Delhi graduate with an MBA from IMD Lausanne, founded Jagriti Yatra in 2008, a train journey exposing young people to grassroots entrepreneurship in smaller towns and cities. He has integrated these ideas into his constituency work through an initiative called Amrit Prayas, focusing on economic growth, employment, environmental sustainability, and human potential.

The NEET crisis led to the amendment of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2026, which increased penalties for offenders and mandated faster investigations and trials. Tripathi argues that society treats exam results as definitive judgments on a young person's worth rather than one data point among many. He outlined three priorities for education minister: revising the National Education Policy to emphasize human potential, strengthening state education boards, and integrating skilling, sports, and entrepreneurship into the curriculum.

As for India's economic story, Tripathi points to macroeconomic stability, political continuity, and a growing economy, highlighting that India became the world's fourth-largest economy in 2025 and is projected to be the third-largest by 2028-2031. He cautions that this demographic advantage is time-bound, with population growth in certain states already plateauing.

Tripathi identifies defense and space, agriculture, and women-led enterprise and small-town urbanization as key entrepreneurial opportunities for the next decade. He is working to replicate his constituency work, known as the Banyan Revolution, across multiple regions through the Banyan Revolution initiative.