UGC-NET exam cancelled amidst integrity concerns
The decision to cancel the exam, which took place on June 18 across multiple cities, came swiftly after over 9 lakh candidates had appeared for it.
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On June 19, the Education Ministry announced the cancellation of the UGC-NET examination following concerns raised by the Ministry of Home Affairs about potential compromises in the exam's integrity.
Conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), the UGC-NET is pivotal for candidates aspiring to become Assistant Professors, pursue Junior Research Fellowships, and gain admissions to PhD programs.
The decision to cancel the exam, which took place on June 18 across multiple cities, came swiftly after over 9 lakh candidates had appeared for it.
This move marks the first cancellation of a centrally-conducted public examination since the introduction of stringent anti-paper leak legislation earlier this year.
In response to the concerns, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has initiated an investigation into the matter, now entrusted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The MoE indicated that details about potential re-examination arrangements would be communicated separately.
Sources within the MoE revealed that inputs suggesting irregularities in the exam's conduct were received from the National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Although specifics about the nature of the compromises were not disclosed in the official statement, reports suggest discrepancies were identified at several exam centers.
UGC-NET consists of two papers: a common paper for all candidates and a subject-specific paper tailored to the candidate's specialization, available in 83 subjects.
The exam, totaling three hours, features 150 multiple-choice questions—50 in the common paper and 100 in the subject-specific paper—without any negative marking.
The cancellation affects all 9,08,580 candidates who participated in the examination, indicating that the integrity concerns likely pertained to the common paper shared by all examinees.
The cancellation of UGC-NET underscores ongoing challenges faced by the NTA, which also manages other high-stakes exams like NEET, the gateway to medical education in India, and has recently faced scrutiny over alleged irregularities in its administration.
