Explained: Government's response to NEET-UG, UGC-NET row; opposition's reaction
Amid national outrage over irregularities in NEET-UG and UGC-NET, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said that the National Testing Agency—which conducts the exams—will be strengthened and those responsible for the paper leaks will be penalized. Thousands of medical aspirants have been protesting across the country since the NEET-UG results were released earlier this month. Separately, the Congress will launch a massive nationwide protest today over the controversy. Here's a roundup of the developments in this ongoing row.
Controversy over NEET result
The NEET examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centers, and around 24 lakh students appeared for it. The results were announced on June 4, ten days earlier than initially expected due to the early completion of the answer sheet evaluation. When the results were announced, a staggering 67 students got the perfect score of 720 marks. Over 1,563 candidates were also awarded grace marks to compensate for the "loss of time," but these marks were later cancelled.
13 arrested in NEET-UG paper leak case
Last month, Bihar Police's Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) arrested 13 people as part of its probe into the alleged paper leak in NEET-UG 2024. They included examinees, their parents, and alleged mastermind Sikander Prasad Yadvendu. During questioning, one of the arrested students, Anurag Yadav, confessed that the leaked question paper handed to him matched the actual exam question paper. Yadav admitted that he received the leaked copy from his relative, Sikandar, who is a junior engineer at Danapur Municipal Council.
'Exam's integrity compromised...': UGC-NET cancelled
Separately, on Wednesday, the Ministry of Education (MoE) announced the cancellation of the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET). This decision came just a day after over 9 lakh candidates appeared for it across 317 cities. According to reports, this came after inputs from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs that "the integrity of the examination may have been compromised."
Probe into UGC-NET handed over to CBI
With this, UGC-NET—held for securing entry-level teaching jobs in Indian universities and for PhD admissions—became the first centrally-conducted public examination to be scrapped after the introduction of the new anti-paper leak law by the Centre. The MoE also announced that the investigation into the compromised exam inputs is being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and information about the re-exam will be shared separately.
Education minister's response exam irregularities, paper leaks
At a Thursday evening press conference, Pradhan said the government is committed to zero-error exams and has formed a high-level committee to help the NTA improve its functioning. "Regarding NEET, the first discrepancy...was regarding the grace marks...few students got agitated and people went to court. Later, NTA moved a new petition...so that a reexamination of those students who got grace marks could be conducted. So a solution was found to the main issue related to NEET," he added.
Opposition leaders demand action
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the irregularaties are taking place as the education system has been "captured" by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's "parent organization"—the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. "This is an anti-national activity...this is the future of the country and the youth of the country are facing the brunt of it," he said. He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being silent over the issue. Notably, several opposition leaders have demanded that Pradhan resign.
Isolated incidents should not affect student's future: Pradhan
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged the Centre to take immediate steps to resolve the crisis, saying that the NTA's "repeated incompetence" in conducting exams is unacceptable. Amid demands by the opposition to re-conduct NEET, Pradhan said on Thursday that isolated incidents of malpractice should not affect lakhs of students who cleared the examination rightfully. He reiterated that the high-level committee will make recommendations to further improve NTA, its functioning, examination process, transparency and data security protocols.
