New Delhi:

Hours after the Education Ministry scrapped the 2024 UGC-NET examination – based on input from a federal cybercrime unit run by the Home Ministry that said it may have been compromised – sources told NDTV early inquiries suggest a large corruption racket. Given such concerns, sources said officials charged with the exam’s conduct, including those who set question papers, will be probed.

The officials likely to be investigated range from academics who create the question papers and those who evaluate answers to officials responsible for editing, or checking, prepared question papers. Sources said two to three sets of each question paper are prepared.

The role of officials who print each question paper will be examined, as will that of those who take the printed documents to examination centres across the country. The role of the latter will be scrutinised, as this person has complete access to all question papers.

Meanwhile, after the NET was cancelled, student protests on university campuses across the country, claiming they had flagged paper leaks last week, days before the exam, but no action was taken.

Students at Lucknow University said at least one paper had been leaked and was available for as little as Rs 5,000. This, they said, had been circulated via WhatsApp and Telegram groups from June 16.

READ | NET Aspirants Allege Paper Leak, Day After Exam Got Scrapped

UGC-NET refers to the National Eligibility Test – a qualifying exam for appointments to professorial posts in colleges and universities, as well as for research posts and fellowships.

It is conducted by the NTA, or National Testing Agency, a federal agency that organises competitive exams for various courses, including the NEET, or National Eligibility and Entrance Test, which sorts students to colleges offering undergraduate medical degrees.

The 2024 UGC-NET was conducted on Tuesday but the Education Ministry this afternoon said the exam had been scrapped and results voided.

READ | “Took Proactive Action”: Education Ministry, Under Fire For Scrapping NET

Over 11 lakh students had registered for the exam.

“The matter has been given to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation)… a fresh exam will be conducted soon,” Govind Jaiswal, the Joint Secretary, said.

This comes as the NTA, and the government, take flak over allegations of leaked question papers and preferential marking for the NEET exams. Nearly 24 lakh students took that exam – on May 5 – and there have been widespread complaints by candidates across India.

READ | “Got NEET Paper Day Before Exam”: Arrested Student Tells Bihar Cops

The NEET row also reached the Supreme Court; on Tuesday the court came down heavily on the NTA and demanded accountability in case of even “0.001 per cent negligence”. 

Concern over the NEET exam was triggered after rumours of leaked question papers and the fact that 1,563 students received grace marks allowing them to score a perfect 720.

The court was told the grace marks were due to loss of time for some students.

Students and petitioners have demanded a re-test but, for now, the NTA has only agreed to roll-back marks of the 1,563 who got extra marks and has offered them a second chance.

Four men arrested in Bihar confessed to question papers being leaked.

The UGC-NET and NEET rows have also spawned entirely predictable political spats, with the Congress-led INDIA bloc set to attack the ruling BJP ahead of the first Parliament session.

READ | In NEET Row In Bihar, BJP, RJD Trade Claims Of ‘Link’ To Key Accused

In Bihar, for example, BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha has accused opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav, whose Rashtriya Janata Dal is part of the INDIA bloc, of links between his aide and one of the key accused in this case.

READ | “Emergency”: NET Scrapped Amid NEET Row, Opposition Gets Ammo

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Mallikarjun Kharge, and Samajwadi Party boss Akhilesh Yadav, the Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi, and the Trinamool’s Saket Gokhale have all hit out at the BJP on this topic.

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New Delhi:

The cancellation of the UGC-NET examination amid the ongoing protests against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has provided fresh ammunition to the Opposition parties to target the Narendra Modi government ahead of the Parliament session.

UGC-NET is a test to determine a candidate’s eligibility for the post of assistant professor in universities and colleges, and also for the award of research fellowships. The Education Ministry yesterday ordered that the exam — held Tuesday — be scrapped after inputs that its integrity may have been compromised.

This exam too was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which is already under fire for alleged irregularities in NEET. This time, in a shift from practice, NET was conducted in pen and paper mode. Over 11 lakh students had registered for the exam.

Leaders of the INDIA bloc, upbeat over restricting the BJP below the majority mark in these Lok Sabha polls, have joined forces to target the Centre over the mismanagement of key exams.

.@narendramodi जी,

आप “परीक्षा पर चर्चा” तो बहुत करते हैं, “NEET परीक्षा पर चर्चा” कब करेंगे?

UGC-NET परीक्षा को रद्द करना लाखों छात्र-छात्राओं के जज़्बे की जीत है।

ये मोदी सरकार के अहंकार की हार है जिसके चलते उन्होंने हमारे युवाओं के भविष्य को रौंदने का कुत्सित प्रयास…

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) June 19, 2024

The Congress described the Narendra Modi-led NDA government as “paper leak government”. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge took a swipe at the Prime Minister. “Narendra Modi ji, you discuss exams a lot, but when will you hold ‘NEET pareeksha pe charcha’. Cancellation of UGC-NET exam is a victory of the passion of lakhs of students,” he said. Targeting Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, he said the minister first said no paper leaked in NEET, but when arrests were made in Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana, he accepted that “some scam” happened. “When will NEET exam be cancelled?” he asked.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi alleged that the government’s “corruption and laxity” is harmful for the youth.

भाजपा सरकार का लीकतंत्र व लचरतंत्र युवाओं के लिए घातक है।

NEET परीक्षा में हुए घपले की खबरों के बाद अब 18 जून को हुई NET की परीक्षा भी गड़बड़ियों की आशंका के चलते रद्द की गई।

क्या अब जवाबदेही तय होगी? क्या शिक्षा मंत्री इस लचरतंत्र की जिम्मेदारी लेंगे?

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) June 19, 2024

“After the news of scam in NEET exam, now the NET exam held on 18th June has also been cancelled due to the fear of irregularities. Will accountability be fixed now? Will the Education Minister take responsibility for this laxity?” she asked in a post in Hindi.

… और अब गड़बड़ी की ख़बर के बाद UGC- NET की परीक्षा भी रद्द कर दी गयी है। भाजपा के राज में पेपर माफ़िया एक के बाद एक, हर एग्ज़ाम में धांधली कर रहा है। ये देश के ख़िलाफ़ किसी की बड़ी साज़िश भी हो सकती है।

गहरी बात समझिए:

– पुलिस भर्ती की परीक्षा का पेपर लीक होगा तो…

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) June 20, 2024

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the “paper mafia” is involved in fraud in every exam under the BJP’s regime. “There should be a court-monitored probe and the culprits must get the harshest punishment. No one should be spared,” he posted on X.

Rajya Sabha MP and leader of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Priyanka Chaturvedi said the repeated failure to conduct national examinations fairly “exposes the NTA’s incompetence”.

PM of India does this fancy Pariksha Pe Charcha event, can he first ensure fair pariksha to lakhs of students preparing for these competitive exams? By continuing with the same education minister you have let down the entire young generation of India. Graduates don’t have jobs,…

— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) June 19, 2024

“This is an education emergency and also lets down lakhs of students who diligently prepare for these entrance exams, not to forget the mental pressure they go through,” she said. “Cancelling is not the solution, accountability from government and NTA is. This absolute disregard to young students and their careers is unfortunate,” she added.

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale said the examination process of the country has “crashed”.

The examination process structure of our country has crashed.

Paper leaks & irregularities are rampant and the useless NTA is complicit in it.

After the NEET fiasco, the UGC-NET has now been cancelled – literally 1 day after students wrote the exam.

The lives & futures of… pic.twitter.com/lqE7TwwX4Q

— Saket Gokhale MP (@SaketGokhale) June 20, 2024

“Paper leaks and irregularities are rampant and the useless NTA is complicit in it. After the NEET fiasco, the UGC-NET has now been cancelled – literally 1 day after students wrote the exam. The lives & futures of our students are being destroyed everyday & the NDA 1.0 govt is shameless to even take responsibility,” he said.

The Education ministry yesterday said the UGC had received some inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre. “These inputs prima facie indicate that the integrity of the aforesaid examination may have been compromised,” it said.

“To ensure the highest level of transparency and sanctity of the examination process, it has been decided that the UGC-NET June 2024 examination be cancelled. A fresh examination shall be conducted, for which information shall be shared separately,” the ministry said, adding that the CBI will probe the matter.

With the new Lok Sabha set to meet for the first time on Monday, the cancellation of UGC-NET along with the ongoing fiasco over NEET is likely to be a big talking point as the BJP tackles a stronger Opposition on the House floor.

Even as the controversy over NEET threatens to reach a boiling point, the Ministry of Education has has cancelled the UGC-NET exam, conducted by the National Testing Agency, just a day after it was held. Over 9 lakh candidates had appeared for the exam, which is held for Assistant Professor posts in universities and colleges and to determine eligibility for junior research fellowships. 

The announcement triggered an immediate reaction from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who called out the government for its “laxity” and demanded that accountability be fixed.

In a statement, the Education Ministry said the June exam of the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) was conducted on Tuesday in OMR (pen and paper) mode in two shifts across the country.

“On 19th June, 2024, the University Grants Commission (UGC) received certain inputs from National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs on the Examination. These inputs prima facie indicate that the integrity of the aforesaid examination may have been compromised,” it said. 

The ministry said it was announcing the cancellation of the June 2024 examination “to ensure the highest level of transparency and sanctity of the examination process” and that it will be held afresh at a date which will be shared later. 

There have been reports of the paper of the examination being leaked, but this was not confirmed by the ministry. It said only that the matter has been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation for investigation. 

The UGC-NET is conducted twice every year, in June and December. 

On Tuesday, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar had posted on X, “Today, NTA has successfully conducted UGC – NET June 2024 for determining the eligible candidates for (i) ‘award of Junior Research Fellowship and appointment as Assistant Professor’, (ii) ‘appointment as Assistant Professor and admission to Ph.D.’ and (iii) ‘admission to Ph.D. only’ in 83 subjects in OMR (Pen and Paper) mode in two (02) different shifts (09:30 AM to 12:30 Noon and 03:00 PM to 06:00 PM).”

“The examination has been conducted at 1,205 Exam Centres in 317 cities across the country for 11,21,225 candidates. Out of the total registered candidates, about 81% candidates appeared for the exam. Best wishes to all the candidates,” he had written.

NEET Row

Nearly 24 lakh students had appeared for the NEET-UG 2024 for undergraduate medical courses, which is also conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), on May 5. The results were announced on June 4, 10 days before schedule, but allegations of a question paper leak and grace marks to over 1,500 students triggered protests. Cases were also filed in courts, including the Supreme Court, which has come down heavily on the NTA.

On NEET, the ministry’s statement said, “The issue related to grace marks has already been fully addressed. As regards certain irregularities alleged in the conduct of the examination in Patna, a detailed report has been sought from the Economic Offences Unit, Bihar Police. Government will take further action, on receipt of this report.”

“Government is committed to ensure the sanctity of examinations and protect the interest of students. It is reiterated that any individual/organisation found to be involved in this matter will face strictest action,” it added.