Even as the controversy over NEET threatens to reach a boiling point, the Ministry of Education has cancelled the UGC-NET exam, conducted by the National Testing Agency, just a day after it was held. Over 9 lakh candidates 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. 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 June 19, 2024, the UGC received information from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit indicating a possible compromise in the integrity of the exam. In response, the ministry decided to cancel the June 2024 examination to maintain transparency and the sanctity of the process. The exam will be rescheduled for a later date.
The UGC-NET cancellation comes amid ongoing controversy over irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 exam, where questions were raised about grace marks awarded to certain top-performing students.
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 had been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation for investigation. The UGC-NET is conducted twice every year, in June and December.”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
