NEET, NET irregularities: student unions continues protest

New Delhi: In Lucknow, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Patna, student unions continued their protests for the second day over the irregularities in the two competitive exams the National Testing Agency conducted in the country, NDTV reported.

Following the controversial results of the NEET exam, it was only days later that a question paper leak was reported in the UGC-NET exam. The latter, which allows students to choose a career in teaching at higher education institutions, was cancelled a day after the test was held over reports of question paper leakage. The Union Government also admitted that it suspects that the exam's integrity might have been compromised.

Strong protests by student unions of the Delhi University campus on Friday forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to cancel his visit to the university. His visit was scheduled to attend a Yoga Day event. Members of the Left-affiliated All-India Students' Association (AISA) and other students held protests on Delhi University's North Campus. They carried black fags with them. Police detained and removed many of them.

On Friday, NTA issued admit cards to 1,563 students for their retest of NEET. The agency said that government officials would be at the exam centres to ensure students were confident about the exam process.

It was on May 5, the NEET exams were held in 4,750 centres and attended by 24 lakh candidates. When the results came out on June 4, there were allegations of a paper leak from Bihar as well as other irregularities of grace marks. The matter went before high courts and the Supreme Court. Now, NTA has removed the graced marks awarded to more than 1,500 students.

In the protests, students demanded the resignation of minister Dharmendra Pradhan and scrapping of NTA, NDTV reported.