Another test hit by leak claims: Govt asks NTA to postpone CSIR-UGC NET, set new question paper

NTA has been conducting CSIR-UGC NET in online mode on behalf of the UGC and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research since December 2019.  About 2 lakh candidates were expected to appear for CSIR-UGC NET from June 25 to 27.

It is learned that on Friday, the Education Minister was apprised of certain claims circulating on a messaging app that the CSIR-UGC NET paper had been leaked. Although the Education Ministry had not received any input from the Home Ministry or I4C (MHA’s centre for fighting cyber crime) along these lines — as it had in the case of UGC-NET— it was decided that the exam should be postponed to ensure there is no room for doubt about the integrity of the paper, said sources. The NTA has now been asked to hold the exam after setting a new question paper.

However, in its official notice posted in the public domain Friday night, the NTA announced that the exam had been postponed due to unavoidable circumstances as well as “logistic issues”.

CSIR-UGC NET is a biannual exam held in June and December and serves as a qualifying test for determining eligibility for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and lectureship in sciences in Indian universities, making it a crucial criterion for PhD admission. Prestigious institutions like the Indian Institute of Science and even the IITs accept CSIR-UGC NET as an eligibility qualification to apply for PhD programmes. The UGC-NET, on the other hand, is a prerequisite for PhD admission and finding entry-level teaching jobs in higher education in all disciplines but the sciences.

CSIR NET exam has three parts: Part A, B and C. Part A consists of general aptitude questions and Parts B and C have questions based on the subjects chosen by candidates out of five options — chemical science, earth science, life sciences, mathematical science and physical science.

The decision to postpone the CSIR-UGC NET comes at a time when the Education Ministry and the NTA are grappling with allegations of irregularities and a paper leak pertaining to the NEET undergraduate exam held on May 5, which is key for admission to all MBBS programs in the country. Bihar Police have arrested 13 people, including four candidates who took the NEET, as well as their parents and members of an organized gang that allegedly gathered 35 candidates before the exam at a school under the jurisdiction of Ramakrishna Nagar police station and conducted a mock exam. They allegedly received the NEET question paper with answers there.

Although the Union government was initially defensive, on Thursday, Pradhan, for the first time, acknowledged that there have been “some errors limited to specific regions,” referring to Bihar’s investigation into allegations of a paper leak. He also took “moral responsibility” for the loss of faith among youth and students. He announced that the government would decide on the fate of the NEET-UG 2024 exam after receiving Bihar Police’s final report on the status of its investigation.

According to sources, the Education Ministry had not received Bihar Police’s report till Friday evening. However, it is learned, that for now, the government is not in favour of cancelling NEET-UG and holding a retest across the country for all 24 lakh candidates, as it believes this would disproportionately punish a large number of students, especially those from rural areas, for a problem “limited to specific areas.” But a final decision will be taken after the Bihar Police’s report is received, said a government official.

On Thursday, Pradhan also announced the setting up of a high-level committee to fix responsibility within the NTA for the UGC-NET leak and review its structure and functioning. This committee is expected to be notified along with its terms of reference over the weekend.

Investigations into the UGC-NET paper leak case have found that the question paper may have been leaked on Sunday itself and released on darknet and an encrypted social media channel. It is suspected that the question paper was being sold for an amount in excess of Rs 5 lakh, sources said.

The CBI on Thursday registered an FIR in the matter following a complaint from the Ministry of Education. The FIR has been registered against unknown suspects for cheating and criminal conspiracy.