The Ministry of Education (MoE) has announced that new dates for the UGC NET exam will be declared soon, following the cancellation of the previous exam due to concerns over its integrity.
The UGC NET exam, held at 1,205 centres across 317 cities with over 11 lakh candidates, was cancelled a day after it was conducted.
This decision was taken on Wednesday night after the National Testing Agency (NTA) received inputs suggesting that the exam conducted on June 18 may have been compromised.
Govind Jaiswal, Joint Secretary of the MoE, in a press conference on Thursday said, "The ministry saw that there was a chance that the examination had been compromised. The ministry has decided to cancel the examination. The next date will be declared soon. The matter has been referred to the CBI..."
The decision to cancel the exam was made to ensure transparency and maintain the sanctity of the examination process.
Jaiswal noted, "The ministry of education will not hesitate in taking action against anyone involved." He added that the ministry was working diligently to ensure that the future of the students is not jeopardised by this incident.
The inputs raising concerns about the exam's integrity were provided by the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
"Inputs which we got were of technical nature," said Jiswal. These inputs prompted the Ministry of Education to take immediate action and cancel the exam.
The case has been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a thorough investigation. The MoE assures that all necessary measures are being taken, but specific details cannot be disclosed at this time to avoid hampering the investigation.
"We cannot share more details as it may hamper the investigations. We are taking prompt actions so that the future of students is not compromised," said the official.
Students are urged to stay updated as the new dates for the UGC NET exam will be announced shortly. The ministry's priority is to reschedule the exam at the earliest to ensure minimal disruption to the students' academic progression.
The UGC NET incident follows similar discrepancies reported in the NEET UG 2024 examination, where allegations of question paper leaks and irregularities have emerged, particularly in Bihar.
The NTA has been addressing these concerns, including issues related to grace marks and alleged irregularities at specific exam centres.
