Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 17: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday attacked the government over the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) decision to re-conduct the UGC-NET examination for English, commerce and sociology, demanding accountability from the agency’s leadership.

Gandhi said the resignation of former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on July 25 following student protests over examination irregularities was “not the last step but only the first”.

In a post on X, Gandhi said the three UGC-NET papers were conducted between June 22 and 30 but were cancelled nearly two months later after the NTA found errors and repeated questions from previous examinations. He said thousands of candidates who had spent years preparing for the examination would now have to appear again in September.

“NTA makes the mistake, but the student serves the sentence,” Gandhi said, alleging that the examination system was causing financial, mental and academic distress to students.

He also questioned whether the papers had been leaked before the examination and demanded accountability from the NTA and the government.

Congress leader Sachin Pilot also criticised the NTA, saying the latest decision had once again raised questions over the agency’s efficiency and the fairness of the examination system. He sought accountability from both the Education Ministry and the NTA.

AAP leader Manish Sisodia went a step further and demanded that the NTA be shut down, describing it as a “massive fraud”.

The NTA on Sunday announced that UGC-NET examinations for English, commerce and sociology would be conducted again after a panel identified factual, typographical and translation errors in the question papers, besides repetition of portions from earlier examinations. The decision affects more than 20,000 candidates.

UGC-NET determines eligibility for Junior Research Fellowships, assistant professor positions and PhD admissions, and is generally conducted twice a year in June and December.