Congress seeks probe into JEE ‘fraud’ by Supreme Court judge

New Delhi, September 4

The Congress on Saturday demanded a probe into the alleged manipulation of the JEE (Mains), 2021, under the supervision of a sitting SC judge and said all major competitive exams held in the past seven years should be investigated.

Party spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh in a press conference today cited the arrest of seven persons in the case by the CBI as a matter of grave concern. He said raised questions on the sanctity of the exams conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) under the Ministry of Education.

“If such a prestigious exam as JEE (Mains), which is the entry point to top centrally funded technical institutes, can be manipulated, what is the guarantee that other exams conducted by the NTA have been transparent? The government and the NTA must answer the youth of the country,” said Vallabh.

The Congress cited the alleged fraud in the 4th session of JEE (Mains), 2021, with the CBI registering a case against a private institute (Affinity Education Pvt. Ltd) and its directors and three employees on the allegations of committing fraud in conducting the exam.

“As per the CBI, the institute was involved in helping students cheat. The institute also collected money from students after their selection. Preliminary probe has found that the question paper of the applicants was accessed remotely from a chosen examination centre in Haryana as the entire examination is a computer-based test. It is alleged that the institute was conducting these false practices through an examination centre in Sonepat,” he said. — TNS