Reschedule UGC NET exam scheduled on Pongal day, CM Stalin tells Union Edu Min
The exam was never conducted on the harvest festival day in the past, Stalin shares data with the HRD ministry
Chief Minister MK Stalin
CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin urged the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry on Tuesday to reschedule the UGC NET examination scheduled on Pongal day, January 14.
The CM cited data showing that the National Testing Agency (NTA) has never conducted the UGC NET Examination during the Pongal festival season.
The eligibility exam for selecting arts and science college professors is conducted until January 16.
In his letter to Union HRD minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Stalin drew the minister's attention to the National Testing Agency (NTA) public notice scheduling the UGC NET December 2024 Exam from January 3 to 16, including on January 14 (Pongal day). "As January 14th falls on Pongal, the most important festival for Tamils, the Hon'ble Minister for Higher Education, Government of Tamil Nadu, had written to the Hon'ble Education Minister, Government of India on December 23, 2024, highlighting the issue. It was also underscored how all sections of the Tamil society celebrate the harvest festival," Stalin said in the letter.
"Every year, this festival is celebrated four days from 13th January to 16th January. These dates are well known to all in this State in advance, and the entire Tamil community celebrates the four-day festival with fervour. The State government has already declared 14th to 17th January 2025 as government holidays for this Festival," Stalin pointed out.
"I am given to understand that the Chartered Accountants Foundation examination, January 2025, has already been rescheduled for the same reason. So, I consider that there is a real need for rescheduling the UGC NET examinations and other examinations to various other dates, thereby ensuring that students and scholars of Tamil Nadu and other States where the harvest festival is celebrated can appear for the examinations," the CM reasoned.
Pointing out that Makara Sankranthi festival is celebrated in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on the same day, the CM argued, "Pongal, celebrated as the harvest festival of Tamils, is not just a festival but total embodiment of the culture and heritage that spans over 3,000 years. If the proposed UGC NET exam is held during the Pongal holidays as scheduled, it will put a large number of candidates into hardship."