New Delhi: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced the postponement of CSIR UGC-NET, which is to be held between June 25 and 27. The revised exam dates are yet to be announced.
The announcement comes amid raging protests against the Union government over the cancellation of UGC-NET following reports of question paper leak and alleged irregularities in the results of the medical entrance exam NEET.
On Friday evening, NTA in a statement said, “The candidates are hereby informed that the Joint CSIR-UGC-NET Examination June-2024 which was scheduled to be held between 25.06.2024 to 27.06.2024 is being postponed due to unavoidable circumstances as well as logistic issues. The revised schedule for the conduct of this examination will be announced later through the official website.”
National Testing Agency press notice.
The decision to postpone CSIR UGC-NET came just a day after Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in a press conference, had announced the constitution of a high-level probe committee into the functioning of NTA. He had also admitted that the UGC-NET paper was leaked on the Dark Net, prompting the authorities to cancel the exam. The UGC-NET exam, which was conducted on June 18, was cancelled on June 19 following reports that the exam’s integrity was compromised.
“I want to assure everyone that the government is committed to protecting the interests of students. We will not compromise on transparency. Student welfare is our priority,” he had added.
As the controversy over NTA and the conduct of public exams continues, students, various organisations and opposition parties have been staging protests across the country.
Reacting to the cancellation of the CSIR UGC-NET exam, Congress communications in charge in an X (Twitter) post wrote, “Yet another NTA exam postponed. This time it is the CSIR-UGC-NET. Clearly, NTA has become Narendra’s Trauma Agency for youth.”
Yet another NTA exam postponed. This time it is the CSIR-UGC-NET. Clearly, NTA has become Narendra’s Trauma Agency for youth
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) June 21, 2024
Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a press conference, had said the main reason for paper leaks is that educational institutions have been dominated by the BJP and its parent organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and paper leaks will not stop unless that is reversed.