Kerala CM urges Centre to address NTA's 'incompetence' in conducting exams

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday urged the Centre to take immediate steps to resolve the crisis in the National Testing Agency (NTA), saying its "repeated incompetence" in conducting exams such as NEET and the UGC-NET cannot be accepted.

A day after the Union Education Ministry ordered the cancellation of the UGC-NET following inputs that the exam's integrity may have been compromised, and handed over the matter to the CBI for investigation, Vijayan, also citing the controversy over the NEET exam, said such a situation leaves students in limbo and wastes public money.

"The controversy over NEET has barely subsided, and now the Ministry of Education has announced the cancellation of UGC-NET, citing compromised exam integrity. This repeated incompetence is unacceptable, leaving students in limbo and wasting public money," the chief minister said in a post on 'X'.

"The Central Government must take immediate steps to resolve this crisis at NTA and ensure a fair, transparent, and reliable examination process," Vijayan said.

Amid a raging row over the medical entrance exam NEET, the Union Education Ministry on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of the UGC-NET and also sought a report from the Bihar Police's Economic Offences Unit regarding alleged irregularities in the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (UG) 2024 in Patna.

The UGC cancelled the UGC-NET examination after receiving certain inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs on the Examination.

It said these inputs prima facie indicate that the integrity of the aforesaid examination may have been compromised and to ensure the highest level of transparency and sanctity of the examination process, it has been decided that the UGC-NET June 2024 examination be cancelled.

In a shift from earlier practice, the National Eligibility Test (NET) was conducted in pen-and-paper mode this time on a single day -- June 18 -- with a record 11 lakh students registering for the exam.

UGC-NET is a test to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for the award of junior research fellowship, for appointment as assistant professors and admission to PhD in Indian universities and colleges.

The decision by the ministry comes amid a massive row on the medical entrance exam NEET over alleged irregularities, with the issue now before the Supreme Court.