The joint CSIR-UGC-NET examination, originally scheduled from Tuesday to Thursday, has been postponed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) amidst allegations of a significant paper leak. The NTA cited “unavoidable circumstances as well as logistic issues” as reasons for the postponement in a circular released today. The revised schedule for the examination will be announced later on the official website.
CSIR UGC NET is a crucial exam for candidates aspiring for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), Lectureship (LS), and Assistant Professor positions in Indian universities and colleges. The decision follows the Ministry of Education’s cancellation of the UGC-NET exam on Wednesday, just a day after it was conducted. The Ministry stated concerns about the exam’s integrity following inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has announced the formation of a high-level committee in response to widespread discontent among students over alleged irregularities in exams conducted by the NTA. According to Mr. Pradhan, the decision to cancel the UGC-NET exams was made swiftly upon receiving information from the cyber crime team about questions being circulated on the darknet. This prompted immediate measures including a CBI investigation and the subsequent cancellation upon confirming the compromise of exam integrity.