Education minister must resign, NTA scrapped: Sitaram Yechury on exam row

Amid continuing protests against the discrepancies in the NEET and furore over UGC-NET exam cancellation, Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday demanded the scrapping of the National Testing Agency and resignation of the Union Education Minister.

"Solidarity with our students -- India's future -- in their struggle to safeguard their academic standards from being destroyed by this ND alliance government led by (Narendra) Modi," Yechury said in a post on X.

Listing his party's demands, Yechury said the NTA system should be scrapped, and the Union Education Minister must resign.

He also said the students who gave recent NET and NEET exams must be compensated by the Union government, and the recently adopted system of mandatory NET score for PhD admissions should be rolled back.

"Withdraw proposals to replace existing admission procedures with centralised entrance tests," he said.

The UGC cancelled the UGC-NET examination on Wednesday, a day after it was held, citing compromised integrity of the test.

UGC-NET test is held to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for the award of Junior Research Fellowship, appointment as assistant professors, and admission to PhD in Indian universities and colleges.

The decision by the ministry comes amid a massive row over alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET. The matter is currently being heard at the Supreme Court.

The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.