NET fuel to NEET fire as exam row explodes; CBI begins probe
Dharmendra Pradhan said that a specific question paper of the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) was leaked on the darknet
A simmering controversy over irregularities and alleged paper leaks marring two premier entrance examinations exploded on Thursday as thousands of students hit the streets in protest and Opposition leaders took shots at the ruling party even as the government reiterated its commitment to weed out any corruption and fix lacunae.
The row snowballed a day after the Union education ministry cancelled the UGC-NET examination and said the integrity of the process may have been compromised, jeopardising the futures of 900,000 students who appeared for the test.
‘UGC-NET paper leaked on Darknet’: Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on cancellation of exam
The announcement added fire to a swirling controversy around skewed results and allegations of paper leaks and irregularities that have vitiated the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) this year, left 2.4 million aspirants in limbo, and sparked questions about the processes followed by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
“I come from a poor background and my parents have toiled for me to reach this level. This was probably my last chance at NET,” said Amit Khan, an aspirant from Jammu’s Doda district.
On Thursday, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that a specific question paper of the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) was leaked on the darknet and this led to the cancellation of the exam used to screen doctoral candidates, assistant professors and Junior Research Fellowships (JRF).
“Some irregularities have come to the notice of the government. We take responsibility for it,” he said.
But the Opposition was unimpressed. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi earlier said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was incapable or unwilling to stop the paper leaks and alleged that the education system was captured by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its parent organisation.
Gandhi, who may become the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, announced that the government is going to get pressure from the Opposition, setting the stage for confrontation over the exam controversy in the upcoming session of Parliament.
“It was being said that Modi applied the brakes on the Ukraine war. He also stopped Israel’s war in Gaza. But for some reason, Modi is unable and not willing to stop the paper leak. Students work for months and years to prepare for these exams but the government is playing with their future,” Gandhi said, comparing the NEET and NET issues with the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh.
“The reason for the paper leak is that the education system has been captured by BJP and its parent organisation. This capture has been done by Modi,” he added.
Gandhi demanded that the guilty be brought to book, announced the exam issue will be raised in the upcoming Parliament session and insisted that the rules and system of universities had to be “reviewed and changed.”
The controversy began with this year’s NEET, the medical entrance examination, after allegations surfaced that in one centre in Rajasthan, students appearing for the Hindi medium test got question papers in English amid reports of torn OMR sheets and delay in distribution of question papers. A case was lodged in Patna over an alleged paper leak, after which the police arrested 13 people involved in solving question papers and supplying answers as part of a racket. The arrested people include four examinees.
For weeks, protests have swept across India as thousands of students hit the streets amid allegations of question paper leaks, inflated marking and arbitrary allowance of grace marks, even as opposition parties called for a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the allegations. The Supreme Court is set to hear a raft of petitions on the issue on July 8.
Then, on Wednesday evening, the education ministry cancelled the UGC-NET examination and said the integrity of the process may have been compromised. The June edition of the exam was held on June 18 with 908, 580 candidates appearing at 1, 200 centres, taking the test 83 subjects using pen and paper on OMR sheets.
But 24 hours later, the ministry said that UGC, India’s higher education regulator, received certain inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the home ministry on the examination.
On Thursday, Pradhan shed further light on the decision.
He said the agency that tracks cyber crime for the Union home ministry informed UGC at 3pm on Wednesday that a specific question paper of UGC-NET set was leaked on the darknet.
“We tallied the questions on darknet with the original UGC-NET questions and they matched. We immediately decided to cancel the paper, and order a CBI inquiry into the matter. All these activities took place on Telegram these days. It is a challenge to track the complex nature of Telegram without a high level investigation,” the minister said.
The minister said the government also formed a high-level committee, comprising civil society experts, technocrats, scientists, education administrators and academia, to review the functioning of NTA.
“I have said earlier also that there is a need for improvement in the functioning of NTA. Therefore, the government is going to form a high-level committee regarding reforms in NTA. The high-level committee will be expected to make recommendations to further improve NTA, its structure, functioning, examination process, transparency and data security protocols…Zero-error testing is our commitment,” he said.
Pradhan said the government was in constant touch with the Bihar government in connection with the NEET exam incident, and Patna police are investigating the case of alleged paper leak. But he called it an isolated incident and ruled out scrapping the exam. This is the first time the government has admitted to a paper leak in NEET at any scale.
“According to the preliminary information, there are errors found in specific regions. I want to assure you that once the information comes strictly action will be taken against the guilty. Even if we find involvement of senior officials of the NTA strict action will be taken against them.. In this whole process priority will be given to the interest of the students,” Pradhan said.
Hours later, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a first information report (FIR) against “unknown persons” on the complaint of K Sanjay Murthy, education secretary, and handed over the probe to its anti-corruption branch, Delhi unit.
According to senior education ministry officials, action is likely to be taken against senior NTA officials including the director general of the testing agency. However, when contacted, NTA DG Subodh Kumar Singh refused to comment.
“I would like to say humbly that we have to pay attention to the interests of lakhs of brilliant students who have passed that exam after working very hard. As I said in the preliminary information that the work of Patna Police is commendable. They have been able to round up one isolated incident. Some more information is yet to come. Therefore, we will take final action on it soon,” Pradhan said.
He also appealed to the Opposition to not politicise the issue.
But Gandhi and other leaders hit out, targeting Modi.
CBI begins probe in UGC-NET 2024 exam leak
Recalling how thousands of young people highlighted the perils of paper leaks during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Gandhi accused the BJP of appointing vice-chancellors and other education institute chiefs not on merit but due to ideological leanings towards the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
“A strict law is required to stop paper leaks. But if you put incapable and mediocre people at top posts only because they are ideologically inclined towards the BJP and its parent organisation, such incidents will happen…As long as these institutions are not rescued from these people, such things (malpractices) will continue to grow under the BJP,” Gandhi said.
The Congress leader said students are under “huge pressure” due to large-scale unemployment and other issues. “Right now the PM’s main agenda is to get a Speaker elected. He is not even thinking about NEET.”
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