Mita Mukherjee

Amid nationwide protests and controversies centering the alleged irregularities in National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and cancellation of a series of examinations including the National Eligibility Test (NET), the Bengal chapter of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said they will intensify their agitation in Bengal against the Centre if proper steps are not taken by it to punish those involved in the scams.

The state body of the organization said the future of thousands of meritorious and poor students has been jeopardized due to the mismanagement in conducting the exams. The ABVP will ensure that deserving students, particularly those coming from poor families in far-away districts get justice.

The organization has demanded the resignation of the chairperson of the National Testing Agency (NTA) that conducts the exams and appropriate action against the culprits irrespective of their political affiliation.

“ We demand the immediate resignation of the chairperson of NTA. The cancellation of the NET exams and the irregularities surrounding the NEET has affected thousands of grass root students who had worked very hard for several years with the hope to prosper in life after cracking the exams. The Centre must ensure that all those who are responsible for endangering the future of these meritorious students get punished,’ Aniruddha Sarkar, state secretary of ABVP south Bengal told EducationWorld.

 The Bengal chapter of ABVP is constantly in touch with the organisation’s national leaders who are also organizing protests across the country demanding action against the NTA officials, Sarkar said.

The Bengal ABVP has raised questions about the credibility of the NTA and asked how some students of a particular centre managed to score 100 per cent marks.

“ We can’t deny that there was mismanagement and the NTA failed to conduct the exams in a foolproof manner. The government must find out, as early as possible, what went wrong. Who all are responsible for running the future of thousands of students? People are asking these questions. The Centre must answer,” Sarkar said.

 The state ABVP on Saturday staged a protest on College Street in Kolkata demanding that the central government investigate the alleged irregularities in the NEET medical entrance exam and the mismanagement at NTA that led to the cancellation of NET exams. The organization warned of more intense agitation if their demands were not met soon.

The issue has taken a political turn with mainly Trinamul Congress ruling in Bengal raising concern about the sanctity of important competitive exams like NET and NEET. 

Coming down heavily against the Centre, Bengal education minister, Bratya Basu said: “ We demand justice and transparency in all exams.”

First irregularities were seen in the current year’s NEET-UG in which 23 lakh students were involved. Three more exams were cancelled later including UGC NET, CSIR-NET and NEET-PG.        

Also read: Centre constitutes committee to review conduct of exams by NTA