CUET-UG: National Testing Agency delists 53 exam centres for 'non-compliance of protocols'

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday delisted 53 exam centres from conducting the Common University Entrance Test for Under Graduate (CUET-UG) admissions after exams had to be rescheduled over the past two days following 'technical glitches' at several centres.

The action was taken for 'non-compliance of protocols' and the centres were also warned of strict action in case of "sabotage".

For the remaining schedule of the CUET-UG, no exam will be held at these delisted centres.

On Thursday, the first shift of the exam was cancelled in 17 states, while the second shift was cancelled at all 489 centres. On Friday, the exam was cancelled at 50 centres.

On Saturday, NTA anticipated a similar situation and cancelled the CUET-UG for the day at 53 centres and sent messages to candidates about its postponement on Friday night. These exams will now be held between August 12 and August 14.

The Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan was also forced to hold a review meeting along with officials of his Ministry, the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education and NTA after large number of complaints were registered from affected students and their parents.

“It was found that some of the centres failed to comply with the laid down protocols. Any incidence of non-compliance/sabotage/ignorance will be viewed very seriously and strict action will be taken against those centres to ensure smooth conduct of examinations in future,” the NTA said in a press statement.

Of the 53 centres, 32 are in Delhi.

“We are working on a comprehensive plan for exams that have been rescheduled. We will intimate the exact schedule in a few days. We have also received representations from those seeking change in dates because of clash with other competitive exams and are looking into their requests,” Mr. Joshi said. The NTA is yet to announce when the result will be declared, but the DG said that there will be no delay. “We have enough space available,” he said.

The NTA is conducting CUET -UG 2022 from July 15 to August 20 in two phases at 489 centres in 259 cities in India and nine cities abroad. The exam is being held in two shifts — morning and afternoon. Approximately 14.9 lakh students have registered for the exam.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at the government on Twitter, saying the “new education policy of amrit kaal” was to have “parikshaa pe charcha” (Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction with students) before exams, “no question paper, no discussion” at the time of exams and “after the exam a future in darkness”. He said, “today what is happening with students of CUET is the story of every youth in the country.”

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