'Shut down NTA', chant NSUI members as they storm into NTA office over NEET row

NEW DELHI: Amid the raging row over NEET 2024 conduct, the Members of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of Congress, stormed into the National Testing Agency (NTA) office in Okhla, demanding its closure.

According to a recent report by PTI, NSUI members raised slogans of "shut down NTA" as they filled the building. The protest was fueled by allegations of irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG exam.

The incident, captured in visuals shared by NSUI, showed numerous members vocally expressing their demands within the premises. There was no immediate response from NTA officials regarding the situation.

Ravi Pandey, National Chairman, Media Department of the NSUI, said that the idea behind the protest and storming the NTA office was to draw attention to the loss of faith in the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Pandey stated that the careers of lakhs of students had been put in jeopardy, and the lack of response from the Ministry of Education was baffling. He added that the government had postponed various exams following the leak of the UG-NET exam paper. “We still don’t know when the government will conduct a fresh test and what plan they have to stop similar leaks,” said Pandey.

In another incident on Thursday, the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) held a protest at Jantar Mantar, addressing the alleged rigging of the NEET-UG exam and voicing opposition to the Agniveer Scheme. IYC workers gathered with placards, raising slogans to highlight their concerns. The NEET-UG exam, held on May 5 at 4,750 centers, had its results announced on June 4, earlier than expected, due to the prompt evaluation of answer sheets. The perfect scores achieved by 67 students, including six from Faridabad, raised further doubts about the integrity of the examination process.

In a separate incident reflecting the uneasiness over the credibility of the National Testing Agency, a video went viral in India showing tin boxes stacked allegedly outside the NTA office. Following the circulation of videos on social media showing several trunks outside the National Testing Agency (NTA), claims were made that they contained answer sheets from the recent CUET-UG exam. The NTA has denied these allegations. The agency clarified that the boxes in the video were empty and held no sensitive materials.

In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter), the NTA demonstrated that the boxes outside their examination hall were indeed empty. The agency emphasized that security personnel were present at the location where the boxes were stored.

The NTA captioned the video: "These are empty boxes kept outside the hall at NTA and do not contain any sensitive material. Contrary to media reports, we never leave these boxes in the open. Additionally, we have a sufficient number of security personnel deployed at the site."