UGC NET 2024 Exam Cancelled: Decision Taken to Safeguard Students' Interest, Says Education Minister

The Ministry of Education has cancelled the UGC NET exam, conducted by the National Testing Agency on June 18, after receiving inputs from the Ministry of Home Affairs indicating that the exam's integrity had been compromised. Now, more than 9 lakh candidates will need to retake the UGC NET exam.

UGC NET is a national-level exam conducted twice a year by the NTA to determine the eligibility of candidates for the positions of ‘Assistant Professor’ and ‘Junior Research Fellowship and Assistant Professor’ and for PhD admissions. The exam for June 2024 cycle was held on June 18 in two shifts across 317 cities. However, the exam was cancelled due to concerns about its integrity.

UGC NET Cancelled

The Ministry of Education took to its social media platform X and posted, “Government is committed to ensure the sanctity of examinations and protect the interest of students. Ministry of Education has decided that the UGC-NET June 2024 Examination be cancelled on the basis of inputs from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, prima facie indicating that the integrity of the examination may have been compromised.”

It further stated that the investigation matter has been handed over to CBI and the information about the re-exam will be shared shortly.

UGC NET Cancelled Notice

The officials announced the cancellation of the UGC NET 2024 exam on their social media platform. Taking to their official X platform, they posted the following tweet.

Government is committed to ensure the sanctity of examinations and protect the interest of students.

Ministry of Education has decided that the UGC-NET June 2024 Examination be cancelled on the basis of inputs from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry…

— Ministry of Education (@EduMinOfIndia) June 19, 2024

UGC NET 2024 Exam: Why did Centre cancel the exam?

Just after one day of conducting the UGC NET 2024 exam, the Education Ministry announced the cancellation of the exam due to reports of paper leak. On June 19th, the officials received inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the ministry of home affairs, indicating potential compromises in the examination's integrity. So, to uphold transparency and the sanctity of the examination process, the board decided to cancel the exam.

UGC NET 2024 Cancelled To Safeguard Students' Interest

Commenting on the UGC NET cancellation, the Education Ministry Joint Secretary Govind Jaiswal said, "No complaints were received but the inputs we received from agencies indicated that the integrity of the exam has been compromised. The action was taken suo motu to safeguard interests of the students."

UGC NET 2024 Cancelled: How Many Candidates Appeared for the NTA UGC NET June 2024?

A total of 11,21,225 candidates had registered for the UGC NET June exam. Of these, 9,08,580 appeared for it, marking an attendance rate of 81%, up from 73.6% in December 2023.

UGC NET Cancelled: Anti-Paper Leak Law

The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, was introduced to stop paper leaks and other malpractices in entrance and recruitment examinations. Penalties under the act range from three to five years of imprisonment and fines up to ₹10 lakh.

UGC NET Exam Cancellation Fuels Concerns over NEET-UG

The decision to cancel the UGC NET exam comes at a time when the NTA is embroiled in a controversy over irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical and allied courses, which saw participation from 24 lakh students seeking admission to undergraduate medical courses.

Addressing the NEET controversy, the ministry stated, "The issue related to grace marks has already been fully addressed. As regards certain irregularities alleged in the conduct of the examination in Patna, a detailed report has been sought from the Economic Offences Unit, Bihar Police. The government will take further action on receipt of this report.”

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