New Delhi: Demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the “entire mechanism and process” of the National Testing Agency (NTA), the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s student wing, has announced protests across the country.
This comes after the agency cancelled the June 2024 UGC-NET exam Wednesday — a day after it was held — saying the exam’s “integrity” may have been compromised. The Union education ministry has already ordered a CBI inquiry into the fiasco, and said Wednesday night that a fresh examination date would soon be set.
Over a record 11 lakh students appeared this year for UGC-NET, which determines the eligibility for the position of assistant professor and for the junior research fellowship (JRF) in Indian universities and colleges.
The ABVP has come down heavily on the NTA, which comes under the Union education ministry, saying students now “doubt” the exams conducted by it. ABVP national general secretary Yagywalkya Shukla said Thursday that “the preparations of the NTA” had come under a cloud.
The NTA has also been under scanner for the discrepancies in this year’s NEET-UG or medical entrance exams, for which the ABVP wants another CBI probe.
“The issue of paper leaks has become commonplace. The central government should ensure such scams should not happen. The overall credibility of the examinations is under doubt,” said Shukla about the raging NEET controversy that has reached the Supreme Court.
“The government not only needs to ensure that exams are transparent but also needs to remove doubts that students have about the entire examination process. The credibility of the NTA is under question. We demand the entire mechanism and process of NTA go through a CBI inquiry,” he told ThePrint.
The ABVP functionary further said that protests would be organised across the country, including Delhi Thursday, with effigies burnt at Delhi University. Shukla added that a delegation would once again approach the Union education minister for the CBI inquiry.
“They have cancelled the UGC-NET exam but what about NEET? They say a review would be held, but the investigation in Bihar suggests that some aspirants got access to question papers the night before the exam. In Godhra too, malpractices have come to the forefront. All this raises doubts about the exam as well as the NTA,” Shukla added, while saying that a proper CBI investigation into the functioning of NTA was now a must.
Apart from the UGC-NET and NEET, the NTA also conducts top central examinations such as JEE, GMAT, GPAT and CAT among others.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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