Following the Ministry of Education’s cancellation of the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on June 18, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) national spokesperson Clyde Crasto called for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
“The cancellation of the UGC-NET June 2024 examination exposes another failure of the central government’s education department in running the education system in our country. Just a few days ago, the NEET exams issue brought to light how malpractices and favouritism are prevailing in our education system,” Crasto stated.
He further criticized, “The central government, by failing in doing their duty diligently towards the students of our country, is disrespecting their hard work and also playing with their lives. If Dharmendra Pradhan is unable to handle his portfolio as an education minister, he must resign.”
Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar also voiced his criticism of the government over the alleged NEET paper leak and the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam. In a post on X, Shivakumar declared that the Congress will continue to advocate for the children and their future fearlessly until the government listens and takes action.
“The nation hasn’t even wrapped its head around the devastating NEET exam leak, and now the integrity of the UGC NET exam also stands compromised and cancelled. These recurring compromises of our examination system, especially in BJP-ruled states, are putting a huge question mark on the future of our children, with their hard work going down the drain each time,” he posted on X.
“These leaks are proof of BJP Government’s inability to secure the future of our nation. Truly, a dark and dangerous time for our education system, and the government’s inability to take measures is pushing the system into further trouble. Congress Party will speak up for our children and their future fearlessly until this government is forced to listen and take action,” Shivakumar added.
The Ministry of Education cancelled the UGC-NET held on June 18 “to ensure the highest level of transparency and sanctity” of the examination process, according to a ministry release on Wednesday. The release stated that on June 19, 2024, the University Grants Commission (UGC) received inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs. These inputs suggested that the integrity of the examination may have been compromised.
The matter has been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a thorough investigation. The exam saw an attendance of 81 percent of over 11.21 lakh registered candidates across 317 cities in the country, UGC Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said.