The Education Ministry of the Central Government of India announced on Wednesday the cancellation of the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC NET) exam to “ensure the sanctity of exams” amid an ongoing controversy surrounding the results of a medical entrance exam.
The UGC NET exam, conducted to determine the eligibility of individuals for the posts of Assistant Professor and Junior Research Fellow in Indian universities, takes place biannually. The National Testing Agency (NTA), which also administers other exams of public importance, oversees this process.
Among the exams administered by the NTA is the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), crucial for admission into medical programs at the undergraduate level. Held earlier this year on May 5, the NEET results, released on June 4, showed multiple discrepancies. These included an unusually high number of perfect scores, loss of writing time due to administrative errors, and allegations of exam leaks. The NTA attributed the increase in perfect scores to a larger pool of applicants and denied any exam leak allegations. Despite providing grace marks for those affected by administrative errors, the NTA ultimately scrapped the scores and announced a retest for the candidates.
During this period, numerous petitions were filed across High Courts, with proceedings currently ongoing before the Supreme Court. Recently, a police document showing 22-year-old candidate Anurag Yadav’s confession of having received the exam the night before it was administered began circulating on social media.
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, under the Home Ministry, subsequently informed the Education Ministry that the “integrity of the [UGC NET exam] may have been compromised”. As a result, the Ministry has canceled all written UGC NET exams and announced future retests. The case has now been forwarded to the Central Bureau of Investigation for a thorough investigation.
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