"PM Modi failed India's youth... yet chooses to remain silent": Gaurav Gogoi on NEET, UGC-NET row
Jun 20, 2024
New Delhi [India], June 20 : Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi on Thursday slammed the Centre over the cancellation of the NET exam and irregularities surrounding the NEET-UG exam and said that Prime Minister Modi has failed the youth of India and he still is remaining silent.
Speaking with ANI, Gogoi said, "Prime Minister Modi has failed the youth of India. First, with the NEET exam, 24 lakh people have been disappointed, and now through the NET exam, 9 lakh students have been betrayed. Yet the PM chooses to be silent."
Criticising the government over its stances related to the exam, Gogoi questioned the ruling government and said, "I don't know why this government is adopting two different positions. On NET exam, they are willing to cancel and reschedule. Why can't they do the same with NEET? On the NET exam, they feel that the paper leak has occurred. Why on the matter of NEET, is the Education Minister (Dharmendra Pradhan) giving a clean chit to the National Testing Agency? Clearly, this government is trying to bury the issue."
He added further, "Rahul Gandhi and Congress will not let them go. Tomorrow, the Congress party will hold a nationwide protest on this matter. Rahul Gandhi will raise the matter of NEET students in the House."
Notably, the Ministry of Education on Wednesday cancelled the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) exam conducted by the NTA on June 18.
A fresh examination shall be conducted, for which information shall be shared separately.
On June 19, 2024, the 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.
Amid the massive row surrounding the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam, the Education Ministry has said that the test was scrapped because its integrity may have been compromised and has emphasised that it won't hesitate to take action against anyone.
On the other hand, the NEET-UG 2024 exam was conducted on May 5 and the 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.
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.