NTA postpones CSIR UGC-NET over unavoidable circumstances, logistics issues

The Ministry of Education has asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to postpone the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (CSIR-UGC NET) exam, which was scheduled to take place from June 25 to June 27, "as a matter of abundant precaution" in light of input and claims that this exam, too, may have been leaked on the dark web.

UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar and Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba attended the long meetings led by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan before the decision was made. This came the same day the Department of Personnel and Training notified the Center’s new anti-paper leak law, the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024, that was passed in Parliament in February 2024.

The NTA has been conducting the CSIR-UGC NET online on behalf of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the UGC since December 2019. Almost 2 lakh students were anticipated to take the CSIR-UGC NET exam from June 25 to June 27.

The Education Minister was apprised of certain claims circulating on a messaging app that the CSIR-UGC NET paper had been leaked since June 21. It decided that the exam should be postponed to make sure there is no possibility of doubting the integrity of the paper, even though the Ministry of Education had not received any input from the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), as it had in the case of UGC-NET.

As of now, the NTA has been asked to hold the exam after setting a new question paper.

CSIR-UGC NET is a biannual exam held in June and December and serves as a qualifying test for determining eligibility for a 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 programs. 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 except the science subjects.

The CSIR NET exam has three parts: Parts 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 Ministry of Education and the NTA are currently dealing with claims of anomalies and a paper leak related to the NEET undergraduate test that was held on May 5.

As many as 13 people, including members of an organized gang and four applicants who took the NEET, have been taken into custody by the Bihar Police.

Previously, the National Testing Agency (NTA) canceled the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) on the day after it was scheduled on June 18. The decision was made in response to allegations that there may have been issues with the integrity of the exam.

Union Education Minister Pradhan also announced the formation of a high-level committee to examine the NTA's structure and operations and assign blame for the UGC-NET leak on June 20.

Investigations into the UGC-NET paper leak case revealed that the question paper may have been leaked and distributed over Darknet and an encrypted social media channel.

The CBI registered an FIR in response to a complaint from the Ministry of Education against unknown people for cheating and criminal conspiracy on June 20.