"Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must take responsibility": Congress MP Manickam Tagore

Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Thursday launched an attack on the BJP-led NDA govt alleging that paper leaks have become a routine affair under PM Modi's government and said that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must take responsibility for the irregularities.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Thursday launched an attack on the BJP-led NDA govt alleging that paper leaks have become a routine affair under PM Modi's government and said that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must take responsibility for the irregularities. He added that the Congress party will take up this issue in the Parliament and fight for the youth of the country.

"Paper leaks have become a routine in this government. Paper leak in NEET has happened paper leak in UGC NET has happened, who is responsible? Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must take responsibility. Mr Modi cannot run away from it. We will take up this issue in the Parliament and fight for the youth of the country," he told ANI. The NEET-UG 2024 exam was conducted on May 5 and its results were declared on June 4, ahead of its scheduled announcement date of June 14. Protests were held alleging irregularities and paper leaks as the results showed that as many as 67 students had topped the exam with a perfect score of 720.

Petitions have been filed in courts by students seeking a re-test. The Supreme Court has allowed a re-test of over 1,500 students who were awarded "grace marks." On June 13, the NTA informed the Supreme Court that the scorecards of 1563 candidates who were awarded "grace marks" in the NEET-UG 2024 exam would be cancelled and these candidates would have the option to reappear for the exam on June 23, the results of which will be declared before June 30, or forgo the compensatory marks given for the loss of time.

Meanwhile, people are also protesting against the Ministry of Education's decision to cancel the UGC-NET June 2024 exam. The Ministry of Education on Wednesday said that it had cancelled the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on June 18 across different cities of the country due to certain inputs from National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit that prima-facie indicates that the integrity of the UGC-NET June 2024 examination may have been compromised.

"On 19th June, 2024, the University Grants Commission (UGC) received 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. These inputs prima-facie indicate that the integrity of the aforesaid examination may have been compromised," the Ministry of Education said in a release. "A fresh examination shall be conducted, for which information shall be shared separately. Simultaneously, the matter is being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (C.B.I.) for a thorough investigation in the matter," the Ministry of Education added.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted the UGC-NET June 2024 Examination in OMR (pen and paper) mode on June 18, in two shifts across different cities of the country. (ANI)

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