New Delhi, Aug 2026 : Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Central government after the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced that the UGC-NET examinations for three subjects would be conducted again following errors in the question papers. Gandhi accused the government and the testing agency of failing students and claimed that their years of preparation were being “stolen” because of repeated examination irregularities.
The NTA announced on Sunday that it would re-conduct the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) for English, Sociology and Commerce after receiving several complaints about errors in the question papers. The decision has added to the criticism surrounding the agency’s management of major competitive examinations.
In a post on X, Gandhi questioned the decision to cancel the examinations after candidates had already appeared for them. He said the UGC-NET examinations for Sociology, English and Commerce were conducted between June 22 and 30, but were subsequently cancelled because of faulty question papers and the repetition of earlier questions.
Gandhi said thousands of candidates had spent years preparing for the examinations, paid application fees and travelled to examination centres, and would now have to repeat the entire process in September. He argued that while the NTA made the error, students were being forced to bear its consequences.
The Congress leader also referred to his earlier interactions with students during his “Chhatron Ki Goonj” programmes in Kota, Dehradun and Prayagraj. He said he had described the existing system as no longer being an education system, but an “extraction machine” that takes students’ money, years, mental well-being and confidence without providing adequate returns.
Gandhi further questioned whether the faulty papers could have been compromised before the examinations. He demanded greater accountability from the testing agency and called for action against those responsible for the lapses.
He also criticised Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, saying that his resignation should be viewed as only the beginning of efforts to establish accountability. Gandhi argued that the leadership of the NTA should also be held responsible for examination-related failures.
Addressing candidates who will have to appear again in September, Gandhi said they should not blame themselves for the disruption. He maintained that the examination system had failed students and promised that the Opposition would continue to raise the issue until the government provided answers.
The latest controversy comes amid a history of scrutiny surrounding the NTA, particularly following the NEET examination paper leak controversy. The government subsequently initiated punitive measures and institutional changes, including action against several NTA officials and the removal of Subodh Kumar Singh as Director General of the agency.
According to the latest schedule, the UGC-NET Sociology examination will be re-conducted on September 10, while the English and Commerce examinations will take place on September 9. The NTA has said candidates will not have to pay any additional examination fee, while the number of available seats will not be reduced.
UGC-NET is conducted to determine eligibility for appointment as Assistant Professors, admission to PhD programmes and the award of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) in universities and higher education institutions.
The UGC-NET 2026 examination was conducted in June across 87 subjects. However, the NTA faced criticism over delays in releasing the answer key. The provisional answer key was eventually issued on Sunday.
Following its release, the agency received complaints regarding multiple errors in the English, Commerce and Sociology question papers. A committee was subsequently constituted to examine the complaints. Based on the committee’s recommendations, the NTA decided to conduct fresh examinations in the three subjects to ensure a fair and error-free assessment.
The agency has clarified that examinations for the remaining 84 subjects will proceed as scheduled and their results will be declared separately.
(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)
