Why Govt Must Immediately Terminate And Arrest Entire NTA Team With No Bail Till The Case Is Resolved

Why Govt Must Immediately Terminate And Arrest Entire NTA Team With No Bail Till The Case Is Resolved

Following controversies over the integrity of the National Testing Agency (NTA), an autonomous body responsible for conducting the nationwide examinations, the Union government has appointed retired IAS officer Pradeep Singh Kharola as the new director of NTA to ensure fair and transparent examination for millions of students and to introduce better security measures. The government has also formed a seven-member committee to evaluate the current situation and suggest necessary reforms to avoid discrepancies in such competitive examinations and to secure the future of students appearing for these exams.

From alleged paper leaks to cheating scams, millions of students seem to have nowhere with uncertainty looming over their future. According to reports, questions have been leaked and circulated on Telegram before the nationwide examinations conducted by NTA.

After the Supreme Court ordered the cancellation of grace marks given to 1,563 students and conducted a re-test that was scheduled today, only 813 appeared and 750 skipped the NEET-UG examination. The NTA had conducted tests at seven examination centres in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Meghalaya, and Chandigarh.

A plea in the Supreme Court alleged that NTA officials were involved in swapping of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets for this year’s National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and has sought investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the irregularities of national exams conducted by NTA. Under Article 32 of the Constitution, a bench of Justice Manoj Misra and SVN Bhatti questioned the plea’s qualification and asked petitioners to intervene in the proceedings before the Court on July 8. The Supreme Court has ordered the NTA to respond to the plea of papers being leaked and also that it will not stop students from counselling for admission of these students in medical colleges. 

No action taken against the NTA chairman

On Monday the Congress alleged that the chairman of the National Testing Agency holds interviews for appointment of various posts in educational institutes across the country and no action has been taken against him till this date. 

“Despite NTA being in the eye of a self-created storm, not only has there been no action against its chairman, PK Joshi, he quietly continues to hold interviews for appointment of VCs and Directors at premier educational institutions,”   Congress leader Pawan Khera said in a post on X.  “Should NTA/PK Joshi be allowed to be part of any such selection exercise during the ongoing enquiry on the multiple paper leak episodes?” Khera asked.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned the centre for the irregularities in the education system of the country, “Under the BJP rule, the paper mafia is rigging every exam, one after the other. This could also be someone’s big conspiracy against the country,” Yadav said in his post on X.

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale said “The examination process structure of our country has crashed. Paper leaks and irregularities are rampant and the useless NTA is complicit in it,” in his post on X.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi also criticized the government over the NEET row. “This is the condition of some of the biggest examinations in the country today. Under the BJP’s rule, the entire education system has been handed over to the mafia and the corrupt,” the Congress leader wrote in Hindi.

CBI team reaches Godhra for investigation

A team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrived in Godhra to further investigate the irregularities in the NEET-UG medical entrance exam. According to reports, the Godhra police have registered a case under various sections of the Indian penal Code for allegedly attempting to assist 27 candidates in passing the entrance test in exchange for a sum of 10 lakh each.

The Union Minister Chirag Paswan also stated that the government has nothing to hide and culprits will be punished regarding the alleged irregularities of examinations by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

NTA pushes the future of millions of students into dark

The students have suffered a lot and they have become hopeless, leaving their future in darkness. “I travelled almost 20 km to appear for the NET exam and now it has been cancelled which comes as a huge setback for my career. I was planning to continue my higher studies and go for a PhD but I think this year has been ruined. The government is playing with the future of millions of students,” says a student who appeared for the NET exam this year.