UGC-NET cancellation, NEET ‘paper leak’: Unease in Sangh, ABVP says when people ask questions, govt must answer
The cancellation of the UGC-NET examination and police probes in Bihar and Gujarat into the alleged leak of the NEET-UG question paper have led to unease in the BJP and RSS affiliates including the student wing ABVP which said Thursday that “jab praja ke taraf se sawaal hai, to sarkar ke taraf se jawab hona chahiye (when people ask questions, the government must answer).”
Stating there was a “question mark” on the “credibility” of the National Testing Agency (NTA) that conducts these examinations, ABVP national general secretary Yagywalkya Shukla, referring to the NEET fiasco, told The Indian Express: “There is a perception of mismanagement by NTA. How is it that question papers are reaching 15-20 minutes late in certain centres? How is it that 7-8 students from the same centre get 100% marks? How did 67 students get 720 marks? There is a question mark on NTA’s credibility. Aur jab praja ke taraf se sawaal hai, to sarkar ke taraf se jawab hona chahiye.”
“Could it be that when the national leadership had its attention elsewhere (in the Lok Sabha elections), something wrong happened? The role of NTA is under the cloud of suspicion. ABVP demands that the entire episode should be investigated by the CBI. The role of NTA should be probed. The process of grace marks should be reviewed. Our delegation has already met Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over this.”
According to Shukla, the ABVP had started an agitation on June 5. “We raised questions over the grace marks issue on June 6. And on June 8, we declared a nationwide agitation. The government must work towards ensuring transparency in examinations so that trust of students in the system is retained. Millions of dreams, of both students and parents, are associated with these exams,” he said.
The ABVP has also passed a resolution regarding this in its Rashtriya Karyakari Parishad (national executive). It has also demanded the setting up of a separate Central agency to just investigate irregularities in exams in the country.
The NEET and NET episodes have also unsettled sections with the ruling party. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha called for criminalisation of any nexus found between paper setters and coaching institutes.
Other party MPs contacted by The Indian Express did not want to air their views in public though some expressed concern.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Sinha said, "The education field has developed a vested interest, which is neither public nor private. A money generation industry has developed around it and it is influencing various dimensions of education. There need to be corrective measures.”
“Coaching institutes need to be looked into. With examinations being held across thousands of centres, the credentials of some exam centres remain contested. Thorough preparations are required in advance because of this. In exam centres, external observers are a must, and it should be made a criminal offence for teachers setting questions having any link with coaching centres. The process, the people and the participants are all very important,” he said, noting that the Prime Minister had been encouraging students through Pariksha pe Charcha programmes.
Educational organisations ideologically close to the ruling party were more combative.
The Shiksha Bachao Andolan, founded in 2004 by Dinanath Batra and Atul Kothari with the stated aim of promoting “Bharat’s traditional concept of education”, upped the ante, demanding cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024, discontinuation of the ongoing counselling process, and a CBI inquiry into the irregularities. It also demanded formation of a body of experts to look into the working of the NTA to suggest structural improvements.
The Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas, formed in 2007 and related to the Shiksha Bachao Andolan, raised questions on the functioning of the NTA, formed in 2017 by the Centre for the conduct of examinations.
Sources in the body said there were questions on when the last full board meeting of the NTA was held. They also wondered how a body that was just a few years old could conduct multiple examinations, and said the standard operating procedure within the NTA was not clear.
Devendra Singh, Sanskriti Utthan Nyas national convenor, competitive examinations, said, “We demand from the Education Ministry that the NEET exam be cancelled, all irregularities be investigated by the CBI and the guilty be given stringent punishment. For holistic improvements in the working of the NTA and the conduct of examinations, a committee comprising renowned experts should be constituted to recommend rules for the conduct of exams and suggest improvements in the NTA to ensure its transparency, quality and integrity.”
Ashok Kumar Yadav , BJP Lok Sabha MP from Madhubani in Bihar, said, “Certainly such incidents are a matter of concern for everyone and stringent action should be taken against those indulging in such wrong acts. Everyone is concerned about this. No one should be allowed to play with the future of the youth. Both the Central and Bihar governments are concerned about this. I have come to know that the Bihar government is going to introduce a draft law to prevent paper leaks in the next Assembly session.”
Jai Prakash Rawat, BJP MP from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, said the BJP government was alert on such matters and had taken swift action in every such incident. “There is no laxity from the side of the government. The government is taking strong measures to prevent such incidents in future,” Rawat said.
When his comments were sought on the NEET row, Paschim Champaran MP Sanjay Jaiswal said, “The government is already working on it. Let us wait for the result.”
Mahima Kumari Mewar, BJP MP from Rajsamand in Rajasthan, said, “This is regarding the future of our children and so everybody is very serious and sincere about it.”
“I am sure whatever has happened, senior members of the government and the party have taken cognizance of it, and whatever is right will be done because this is education and we all are connected with the students. Whatever is done will be done in the best interests of the students,” she said.
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