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 conducted to screen eligible candidates for the post of Assistant Professor in universities and colleges and to determine eligibility for junior research fellowships.
In a statement, the Education Ministry said, "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. To ensure the highest level of transparency and sanctity of the examination process, the Ministry of Education, Government of India has decided that the UGC-NET June 2024 Examination be cancelled.," it said.
The centre also informed that a fresh exam will be conducted, the dates of which will be announced in the future.
Students who appeared in the UGC-NET exam expressed their dissatisfaction over the cancellation of the exam a day after it was conducted. Questioning the NTA over the shifting of exam from computer to OMR mode, a student said, "NTA has shifted exams from computer to OMR. Why has the agency shifted to OMR where leaks are possible? NTA should respond. The centre should answer on the mismanagement of the exam."
"We gave NET exam in scorching heat. There were no ACs, even fans were not working properly. We were already fearful about the exam after NEET," the student added.
The UGC-NET is conducted twice every year, in June and December.
NEET Row
Nearly 24 lakh students had appeared for the NEET-UG 2024 for undergraduate medical courses, which was also conducted by the 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.
The Centre has also scrapped the scores of 1,563 candidates who were seeking admission into medical colleges after they were given grace marks for a wrong question. A re-test for these candidates will take place on June 23, 2024.