New Delhi. Controversy has erupted in the country due to alleged irregularities in NEET and UG exams. Lakhs of children are waiting for justice from the government.
Meanwhile, after cancelling the UGC-NET entrance exam, now the National Testing Agency (NTA) has postponed the CSIR-UGC-NEET exam.
At the same time, last night the central government also came into action mode and notified a strict law to eliminate malpractices and irregularities in competitive examinations and general entrance examinations conducted across the country. Under this law, those involved in crimes like paper leak will be given strict punishment, which includes a maximum of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to 1 crore.
A large-scale controversy has erupted in the country regarding the alleged malpractice in the conduct of NEET examinations and UGC NEET paper leak. In fact, about 1563 children were given grace marks in the NEET exam, after which there were allegations of rigging and a demand for cancellation of the exam. The matter was about 67 students topping, who got 720 out of 720 marks. At the same time, 6 of these students were from the same center.
The Ministry of Education has ordered a re-examination of these students, which will be held on June 23. The hearing on the NEET case is going on in the Supreme Court, which will be heard on July 8. However, the Supreme Court refused to cancel the paper and stop the counseling of the NEET exam. NEET counseling will start from July 6, if the paper is canceled then the counseling will also have to be canceled.
This uproar was going on when NTA canceled the UGC-NEET exam. Along with canceling the exam, the government ordered a CBI inquiry into the matter. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that officials had found the question paper on the darknet, after which this step was taken. He said that the question paper was also being circulated on Telegram.
After this, NTA has also postponed the CSIR-UGC-NEET exam. NTA cited circumstances and logistical problems as the reason behind this. The revised schedule for conducting the examination will be announced later through the official website. The joint CSIR-UGC-NEET exam is conducted to determine eligibility for admission to Junior Research Fellowship and PhD in Science courses.
Amidst all this uproar, opposition parties including Congress attacked the central government fiercely. Congress said that another exam of NTA was postponed. Now NTA has become Narendra Modi’s trauma agency for the youth.
Meanwhile, the central government last night implemented a new law to prevent malpractice and irregularities in competitive examinations. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 has been notified, which came into force on June 21, four months after it was approved by President Draupadi Murmu.
This law was passed by the Rajya Sabha on February 9. It was passed in the Lok Sabha on February 6. It got the President’s assent on February 12. UPSC, Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railways, Banking Recruitment Exams and exams conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) come under the purview of this law.
Under this law, now whoever is involved in crimes related to paper leak or irregularities in the examination will have to face imprisonment of five to 10 years and a minimum fine of Rs 1 crore.
The Education Minister has described the paper leak as an institutional failure of NTA. He said that a committee of experts has been formed in the matter, which will recommend reforms in NTA.
The alleged paper leak in NEET-UG 2024 exam is linked to Gujarat and Bihar. Four people, including a medical candidate, have been arrested in Bihar on this charge. At the same time, 5 people were arrested from Godra in Gujarat, checks and electronic devices worth Rs 2 crore 3 lakh have been recovered from them.
