Opposition slams Centre over cancellation of UGC-NET 2024, labels NEET paper leak as "Maha-Ghotala"

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 20 : Samajwadi Party and Congress slammed the central government over the alleged NEET paper leak issue and UGC-NET exam cancellation calling them a "mega-scam".
After the allegations of irregularities in the NEET entrance exam, the Central government cancelled UGC-NET 2024 on Wednesday evening because exam integrity was compromised. The Ministry of Education has handed the investigation of the UGC -NET 2024 paper leak to CBI.
Congress Senior leader and member of Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari told ANI that in this government "most of the examinations have been leaked" and "BJP-ruled States either Gujarat or Bihar is the epicentre of the leaks".
Tiwari also labelled it as a "mega-scam" and asked PM Modi to do "pariksha par charcha" with the education minister instead of students to know why and how such irregularities in examinations are happening simultaneously.
"Such irregularities and paper leak scams are putting the future of the youth in the dark and PM Modi's silence over this issue raised many more questions," he added.
Samajwadi party spokesperson Udaiveer Singh also criticised the government and said that the BJP-led government is providing a safe haven to such paper leak mafia so that after every paper leak and new scam happens, the government must have a reason for not giving employment.
Udaiveer Singh also said that such events are affecting the working force of every government institution because the date of retirement is certain and such scams are delaying the process of recruitment thus resulting in a poor and weak working force.
"What happened to agencies like CBI and STF? They investigate, they arrest but still can't find the kingpin of such scams and this chain of paper leaks continues," Singh added.
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."
The NEET-UG examination, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), paves the way for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
Meanwhile, the Education Ministry cancelled the UGC-NET held on June 18 to ensure the highest level of transparency and sanctity" of the examination process, a ministry release said on Wednesday.
As per the release, on June 19, 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.
Simultaneously, the matter is being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for thorough investigation in the matter, it added.
The exam was attended by 81 per cent of over 11.21 lakh registered candidates for the exam in 317 cities across the country, UGC chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said.