The National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam due to initial evidence suggesting that the integrity of the exam has been compromised. The Education Ministry stated that the UGC-NET examination will be rescheduled, with new dates to be announced soon. Additionally, the case of examination irregularities will be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further investigation, it added.
What Education Ministry said?
“A fresh examination shall be conducted, for which information shall be shared separately. Simultaneously, the matter is being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (C.B.I.) for thorough investigation in the matter,” the ministry said in a statement. This comes a day after the examination was conducted on Tuesday, June 18. "The UGC received certain inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the 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," a senior official said, as per news agency PTI.
NET was conducted in pen and paper mode
In a shift from earlier practice, the National Eligibility Test (NET) was conducted in pen and paper mode this time on a single day with a record 11 lakh students registering for the exam. The examination was conducted on June 18 in two different shifts. The first shift was conducted in the morning from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm and the second was conducted between 03:00 PM to 06:00 PM. The exam was successfully conducted at 205 Exam Centres in 317 cities across the country for 11,21,225 candidates. In shift 1, there were a total of 5,80,833 registered candidates, of which, 4,73,484 candidates appeared for the exam. In Shift 2, there were a total of 5,40,392 registered candidates, of which, 4,35,096 candidates appeared for the exam.
NET cancelled amid row over NEET
The decision by the Ministry comes amid a massive row on the medical entrance exam NEET over alleged irregularities, with the issue now before the Supreme Court. The education ministry also assured us that it would investigate the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG 2024. This decision follows complaints from candidates about unfair marking and a paper leak in the nationwide medical entrance exam.
About UGC-NET examination
It should be mentioned here that UGC-NET is a test to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for the award of junior research fellowship, for appointment as Assistant Professor and admission to PhD in Indian universities and colleges. The UGC-NET examination is held twice annually, in June and December. The awarding of the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and/or eligibility for Assistant Professorship is determined by the candidate's overall performance in both Paper-I and Paper-II of the examination.
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