The cancellation of UGC-NET exams has sparked off nation-wide protests, with the opposition parties accusing the National Testing Agency and the Narendra Modi government of destroying the future of students.
In Delhi, scores of students who were protesting outside the Ministry of Education as well as the Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's residence have been detained.
A large number of students, including members of political outfits such as the Students' Federation of India (SFI), All India Students Association (AISA), Democratic Students' Front (DSF), Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), and Congress-affiliated NSUI participated in the protest.
The protesters demanded the resignation of Pradhan and a detailed investigation into the matter.
The education ministry announced the cancellation of the exam on Wednesday evening—just a day after it was held across the nation—following prima facie indications that the integrity of exam was compromised.
“A fresh examination shall be conducted, for which information shall be shared separately. Simultaneously, the matter is being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for thorough investigation,” the ministry said.
In Delhi, the students outfits alleged that the protesters, including female students, were brutally manhandled by the police.
"Instead of addressing the concerns of the students and holding the NTA accountable, the Delhi Police brutally attacked and detained several students including JNUSU representatives from the protest site," the DSF said in a statement.
The opposition parties have launched an all-out attack on the government, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleging that the main reason for paper leaks is that educational institutions have been captured by the BJP and its parent organisation RSS.
"It was being said Modi stopped the Ukraine-Russia War and Israel-Gaza war, but he is either not able to stop exam paper leaks or doesn't want to,” Gandhi said in a sarcastic jibe at the prime minister.
"We have a government now and a prime minister who will find it very difficult to function. The prime minister is physiologically broken. He has collapsed psychologically. He will struggle to run a government like this," Gandhi claimed.
"The silence is because the prime minister is crippled. Right now the prime minister's agenda is the Speaker. He is not bothered about the NEET. He wants that his government should scrape through and he gets his Speaker's post. That's where his mind is right now," he further said.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale alleged that the examination process structure of the country has crashed and paper leaks and irregularities have become rampant.
"After the NEET fiasco, the UGC-NET has now been cancelled - literally 1 day after students wrote the exam. The lives and futures of our students are being destroyed everyday and the NDA 1.0 govt is shameless to even take responsibility," he said.
Communist Party of India (Marxist), in a post on X, accused the government of making a mockery of the education system.
"First there were discrepancies in CUET, then the NEET Scam, and now UGC-NET was cancelled! The BJP govt has made a complete mockery of the education system," the CPI(M) said in a post on X.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha said the NEET exam should also be cancelled.
"You had to scrap NET and you must scrap NEET now as there is ample proof that this examination was compromised. And it is time to acknowledge that the NTA is a fraud," he said.