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Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that wherever concrete information of such irregularities is received, action will be taken. (Photo: PTI/File)
Amid allegations of paper leaks in NEET-UG 2024 and UGC-NET, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the Centre is committed to protecting the interests of students and there will be no compromise on their future.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said the central government is committed to protecting the interests of students and there will be no compromise on their future. He said allegations of paper leaks in NEET-UG 2024 and UGC-NET exams will be probed by a high-level committee and no culprit will be spared.
He said, “I want to assure everyone that the government is committed to protecting the interests of students. We will not compromise on transparency. This is an unexpected and unfortunate situation that we are facing.”
He said: “The government is committed to your future. We assure you that the government will always follow transparent processes and practices to protect your interests… Have faith in the government and the system. The government will not tolerate anything wrong.”
‘A single incident should not affect lakhs of students’
On the NEET controversy, Pradhan said that “the mistakes are region-specific” and the Bihar government is in touch with the Centre. “We discussed today and Patna police will go deep into the matter. Once we get concrete information, the accused will not be spared and strict action will be taken. Students are our top priority,” he said.
He said, “I want to humbly say that we have to pay attention to the interests of lakhs of meritorious students who have cleared that exam (NEET) by working hard. As I said, the work of Patna police is commendable in the initial information. They have been successful in solving one or two incidents. Some more information is awaited. So we will take final action soon. We are satisfied with their investigation.”
‘We have to take responsibility and improve the system’
The Union minister said the government is forming a special committee to look into the data functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA). “Recommendations will be expected from that high-level committee to further improve the NTA, its structure, functioning, examination process, transparency and data security protocols… I appeal to all not to spread rumours or politicise this sensitive issue. No culprit will be spared and this will be taken to its logical end,” he said.
He said: “As soon as it became clear that the UGC-NET question paper on the darknet matched the original question paper, we decided to cancel the exam. Taking responsibility, we have to rectify the system.”
On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement on the issue of cancellation of NEET and UGC-NET exams, he said that “opposition friends” should have faith in the system. He said, “Our government is 100% committed to transparency and betterment of the future of students. And I assure you again that our government will not tolerate any kind of malpractice or irregularity.”
Protesting students were detained outside the ministry and the Prime Minister’s residence
Pradhan’s statement came amid protests near his residence against alleged rigging in two major all-India exams. More than two dozen students from different universities and members of various student organisations were detained from outside his house and outside the education ministry.
A large number of students, including members of political organisations like the Students Federation of India (SFI), All India Students Association (AISA), Democratic Students Front (DSF), Revolutionary Youth Sangthan (KYS) and the Congress-affiliated NSUI, participated in the protest.
They gathered outside the Ministry of Education and the Union minister’s residence and demanded a ban on the exam conducting body NTA and an inquiry into the alleged paper leak. Late on Wednesday (June 19), the ministry ordered the cancellation of UGC-NET after reports of compromise in the integrity of the exam. The protesting students also demanded the resignation of Pradhan over alleged corruption in the exam.
The medical entrance exam, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), was held on May 5 in which around 24 lakh candidates appeared. The results were declared on June 4.
There have been allegations of question paper leaks and other irregularities in the exam in states like Bihar. These allegations have led to protests in several cities and petitions filed in several High Courts as well as the Supreme Court.
UGC-NET was also cancelled after it was found that the sanctity of the exam had been compromised and the matter was handed over to the CBI for investigation. The cancellation of this exam comes amid the growing controversy over NEET, raising questions over the ability of NTA to conduct exams on such a large scale.
(With PTI inputs)
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