Tough year for aspirants amid series of paper leaks, cancelled exams
Marred by a series of paper leaks, 2024 saw cancellation of several exams, igniting debates about reforms in Parliament.
The year began with the allegations that the NEET-UG, entrance test for aspiring doctors, had been leaked. The alleged leak ignited protests by students and prompted the Ministry of Education to ask the CBI to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the entire gamut of irregularities.
The CBI probe revealed a well-organised syndicate, which included schools, had managed to circulate the paper to students and coaching centres. The agency chargesheeted 45 accused in the case. Citing logistical issues a night before the exam, the Centre cancelled the NEET-PG exam.
The UGC-NET was cancelled just one day after it was held. The Ministry of Home Affairs raised concerns over the integrity of the test after a screenshot of the paper circulated on social media. However, the CBI found the evidence had been doctored.
The NTA postponed the CSIR-UGC NET to June 21, citing logistical issues. The Common University Entrance Test (CUET), which was scheduled to be conducted between May 15 and 29, was held on July 19.
The Ministry of Education constituted a high-level committee of experts, led by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan, to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the NTA. The committee submitted its recommendations on October 21. One of its recommendations was to mandate NTA to conduct only entrance exams.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on December 16 said the government was looking at moving to a computer adaptive test and tech-driven entrance exams.
State-level exams were also affected due to paper leaks. The UP Public Service Commission came under scrutiny following leaks in the review officer (RO/ARO) exam. An exam for the recruitment of over 60,000 police constables was cancelled after a paper leak was reported in February.
Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra reported breaches in their TET and police recruitment exams. Another controversy snowballed in Bihar was the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the BPSC 70th Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) 2024.
