Chandigarh: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday slammed the Congress, saying it wants to run away from a discussion in Parliament over the NEET exam issue.
His remark came a day after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a “respectful” and good discussion in Parliament on the issue of alleged irregularities in the conduct of the NEET exam.
‘Congress wants to play politics’
Replying to a question on the opposition targeting the BJP-led Centre over the NEET exam issue, Pradhan said, “The Congress does not want a discussion. It wants to run away from the discussion. It’s only intention is to create chaos, confusion and create obstacles in smooth functioning of the entire institutional mechanism.”
He said the president had also talked about the NEET exam issue, being raised by the Congress, in her address in Parliament.
He further said the opposition had a chance to raise this issue during the motion of thanks to the President’s address and asserted the government was ready for any type of discussion.
“But the Congress wants to play politics over the matter. It is not the time to play politics,” Pradhan told reporters after the first session of the Haryana BJP’s extended state executive meeting got over in Panchkula.
Without naming anyone, he further said such irregularities took place before 2014, apparently pointing towards the previous UPA regime at the Centre.
“I could not justify it,” he said.
Zero-error examination
On steps being taken for zero-error examinations, the minister said a high-level committee of experts under the chairmanship of former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan has been formed for the reform of the National Testing Agency (NTA).
“A strong law has been formed against public examination and disruption,” he added.
Pradhan further said the matter pertaining to alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG has been handed over to the CBI.
“We are meeting students and parents,” he said.
NEET-UG was conducted by the NTA on May 5 with around 24 lakh candidates appearing. The results were announced on June 4, but they were followed by allegations of question paper leaks in states such as Bihar, besides other irregularities.
The Education Ministry also cancelled the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) and NEET (postgraduate) examinations after receiving inputs that the exams’ “integrity may have been compromised.
Fresh date for NEET-PG to be announced soon
The new schedule for NEET-PG will be announced by the National Board of Examinations (NBE) within the next two days, Pradhan said.
NEET-PG is among the exams cancelled last week as a pre-emptive measure amid a raging row over alleged irregularities in competitive tests.
“The date of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, Post Graduate will be announced by the NBE in one or two days,” Pradhan told reporters in Panchkula on the sidelines of Haryana BJP’s extended state executive meeting.
The comments by Pradhan come a day after the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced revised dates for three exams which were cancelled.
The University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) which was cancelled a day after being conducted on June 18 after the education ministry received inputs that the integrity of the exam was compromised, will now be conducted from August 21 to September 4.
The question paper was leaked on darknet and circulated on Telegram app. The matter is being probed by the CBI.
CSIR UGC-NET exams from July 25 – July 27
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) UGC-NET, which was postponed as a preemptive measure amid the row over alleged irregularities in the conduct of exams, will now be held from July 25-July 27.
The CSIR UGC-NET is accepted for PhD admissions in Chemical Sciences, Earth, Atmospheric, Ocean and Planetary Sciences, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, and Physical Sciences.
The National Common Entrance Test (NCET) for admission to the four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP), which was postponed hours before its scheduled commencement on June 12, will now be conducted on July 10.
The test is held for select central and state universities or institutions, including IITs, NITs, RIEs, and government colleges.
In the line of fire over the alleged irregularities in medical entrance examination NEET-UG and PhD entrance NET, the Centre had last week notified a panel to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the NTA.
