Rahul Gandhi Targets PM Modi Over UGC-NET Retests, Demands Accountability From NTA
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has stepped up his criticism of the Narendra Modi government and the National Testing Agency (NTA) after three UGC-NET papers were cancelled and ordered to be conducted again because of errors in the question papers.
Reacting to the development, Rahul Gandhi directly questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him to take note of what the testing agency had done. He argued that students were once again being made to suffer because of administrative failures, despite having already spent months preparing for the examination.
The NTA announced that the UGC-NET examinations for English, Commerce and Sociology would be re-conducted after a review found multiple problems with the question papers. The decision came nearly two months after the original examinations were held.
Rahul Gandhi said the situation was unfair to thousands of candidates who had worked hard for the exams. Students had spent years preparing, paid examination fees and travelled to examination centres, only to be told that they would have to appear again.
Taking a sharp dig at the system, Gandhi said that while the agency makes the mistake, it is the student who ends up facing the consequences. He questioned why candidates should have to bear additional stress and disruption for errors they had no role in creating.
The Congress leader also raised questions about the possibility of question papers being compromised before the examination. He asked whether the authorities had properly investigated how the errors occurred and whether there was any possibility of a leak or other irregularities before the exams were conducted.
Gandhi further criticised the broader examination system, saying that students across the country are facing increasing uncertainty over competitive and academic examinations. He argued that young people invest their time, money, confidence and mental well-being in preparing for these tests, only to face repeated disruptions when examinations are cancelled, postponed or re-conducted.
He also linked the issue to the resignation of former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, which followed the controversy surrounding the NEET examination. According to Gandhi, the minister’s resignation should not be viewed as the end of the matter but rather as the beginning of efforts to fix the examination system.
“The NTA’s leadership must be held accountable too,” Gandhi said, stressing that responsibility should extend beyond individual political leaders to the institutions overseeing the examinations.
Under the NTA’s revised schedule, candidates who appeared for the English and Commerce papers will take the re-examinations on September 9, while the Sociology examination will be held on September 10. The agency has clarified that students will not have to pay an additional examination fee for the retests.
The NTA has also said that examinations for the remaining 84 subjects will proceed as planned and that the overall number of available seats will not be reduced because of the re-examination.
The latest controversy has once again brought the reliability and accountability of India’s examination system into focus. For students who have already invested significant time and effort preparing for UGC-NET, the retests mean additional preparation, travel and uncertainty.
The episode has also provided fresh ammunition for the Opposition to question the government’s handling of major competitive examinations. Rahul Gandhi has maintained that accountability must extend to the agencies responsible for conducting these tests so that students do not repeatedly pay the price for administrative failures.
News source: Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets
