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Journalism of Courage
The CBI probe into the alleged UGC-NET paper leak has found that the “evidence”, which led the Education Ministry to cancel the exam just a day after over 9 lakh candidates appeared for it across 317 cities on June 18, was doctored, government sources told The Indian Express.
On June 19, the Centre canceled the exam crucial for entry-level teaching jobs and PhD admissions in Indian universities, following inputs from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that “the integrity of the examination may have been compromised”.
The input was a screenshot of a UGC-NET paper circulating on a Telegram channel around 2 pm on the exam day (June 18), with messages and comments suggesting it was leaked before the first session.
UGC-NET is held in two sessions; the first session was from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm and the second from 3 pm to 6 pm.
The chatter on Telegram channels was detected by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the MHA, and relayed to the University Grants Commission (UGC) on June 19 around 3 pm. Based on this input, the government announced the cancellation later that night. On June 23, on the request of the Education Ministry, the Central Bureau of Investigation took over the probe.
According to government sources, the CBI has found that the said screenshot of the question paper was manipulated in a way to create the impression that it was available before the examination. It is learnt that a candidate shared a photograph of the question paper on a Telegram channel around 2 pm, right after the first session of the UGC-NET. This photograph was then allegedly doctored to suggest that it had been available with people even before the examination. The exact nature of manipulation is not known.
“This was basically a scam run by a Telegram channel where, a few days before the examination, claims were made that the paper had been leaked and would be available for money. Once the first session of the paper was over, the scammers then arranged a photograph of that question paper through a student, doctored it, and circulated a screenshot immediately to make it seem like they had it before the exam. This was done to establish credibility for their claims so that they could also make money even in future,” said a government source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
It is learnt that the CBI has apprised the Education Ministry of this finding. However, it’s not clear if the government will recall its decision to cancel UGC-NET, given that the input on which it was cancelled has now been found to be doctored. The National Testing Agency (NTA) which conducts the exam on UGC’s behalf, has already announced a tentative window for the retest — between August 21 and September 4.
The CBI has not made any arrests in the UGC-NET case so far. According to sources, the modus operandi was deciphered based on an analysis of the screenshot and digital trail of the messages exchanged on the Telegram channel where claims of the paper leak were made. The agency is expected to file a report in the case soon.
UGC-NET has two papers — the first is common to all and the second is a subject-specific paper based on the candidate’s specialisation. The second paper is offered in 83 subjects.
The combined duration of the two papers is three hours, and both papers are meant to be attempted in one session without any break. Both papers consist of objective-type multiple-choice questions (MCQs). A total of 150 questions are asked, with 50 questions in Paper 1 and 100 questions in Paper 2. There is no negative marking in the exam.
UGC-NET is conducted twice a year, in June and December. Although the NTA has been holding this test in computer-based test format since December 2018, it went back to pen-and-paper format this year.
