NEET-UG 'Irregularities', UGC-NET Cancelled: Major Entrance Test Controversies

The UGC-NET exam for assistant professor posts in universities and colleges was held on June 18. On information that the exam may have been compromised, it was cancelled and CBI has been asked to probe it. The alleged irregularities in NEET-UG are being investigated by Bihar Police's Economic Offences Unit in Patna.

Hyderabad:Amid controversies over the NEET-UG, the NTA also cancelled the UGC-NET on grounds that the integrity of the exam may have been compromised.

According to media reports, in the last seven years, more than 70 examination papers have been leaked from different states, affecting over 1.5 crore youth.

Between 2015 and 2023, Rajasthan witnessed 14 cases of question paper leaks in various competitive exams. In Gujarat, there were 14 cases of question paper leak since 2015. Uttar Pradesh witnessed six incidents of paper leak between 2017 and 2022, including Inspectors Online Recruitment Test (2017), UPTET (2021) and Preliminary Eligibility Test (2021). Also, there were four instances of paper leak since 2019 in Uttarakhand.

Let us look back at the major entrance exams that came under the scanner in the last few years.

2024:Uttar Pradesh cancelled the UPPSC review officer/assistant review officer (RO/ARO) Exam and UP Police exam due to paper leak.

June 2023:AIIMS Nurse recruitment exam question papers were leaked on social media. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was scheduled to conduct the exam for recruiting 3,055 nursing officers.

March 2023:The Telangana Public Service Commission question paper leak affected over 25,000 students who had appeared in the examination.

2021:The NEET, 2021 question paper went viral on social media around half an hour before the exam. Police arrested an 18-year-old candidate, the in-charge of the exam centre’s administration unit and four others in connection with the case.

July 2016:The Telangana government cancelled the state-level medical and dental entrance examination after a leak of question papers .Two sets of medical exam question papers of Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test (Eamcet) were found to be leaked for Rs 30 to 40 lakh. The re-exam was necessitated after a police probe found that 200 students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had access to question papers 48 to 72 hours before the exam.

June 2015:In a decision impacting over six lakh students across the country, the Supreme Court cancelled the All-India Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Entrance Test held on May 3, 2015 due to alleged fraud. It directed the CBSE to hold a fresh examination within four weeks.

2014:Question papers of Andhra Pradesh PG Medical Entrance Test was leaked by a few miscreants. CID arrested nine brokers and 11 candidates. Paper was leaked from Manipal Printing Technologies Ltd, a government printing press in Manipal.

2013:The Vyapam scam came to light in 2013 when irregularities and malpractices in the recruitment and admission processes conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) for entrance exams for professional courses and government jobs were exposed.

The Vyapam scam involved corruption ranging from rigging entrance exams for medical colleges to manipulating recruitment tests for government jobs. Impersonation, tampering with answer sheets, and leaking question papers were among the common tactics employed to benefit some candidates. A CBI court convicted 31 people in 2019.

May 2011:The AIEEE question papers were leaked in Uttar Pradesh and reportedly sold for Rs 6 lakh forcing CBSE to postpone the entrance taken by over 12 lakh students across the country by over two hours. Fresh set of questions was provided later.

May 2009:The Common Law Admission Test for admission to national law schools was cancelled following a paper leak. The material was evidently tampered with while it was in transit from Hyderabad to Lucknow via courier.

April 2004:CBSE's all India Pre-Medical Test paper was leaked.

November 2003:The CAT for admission to the six IIMs and 50 business schools was cancelled following paper leak. Alleged mastermind Ranjit Singh was arrested.

May 1997:Question papers of the IIT-JEE for admission to the IITs was leaked in Lucknow. A copy of the mathematics question paper was faxed to the IIT Delhi director’s office by an unidentified person an hour before the exam. The CBSE, which was responsible for conducting the IIT-JEE at that time, decided to cancel the exam and conduct a re-examination two months later.

1996:The EAMCET question papers were leaked in Sri Venkateswara University following which, the responsibility of conducting the test was given to JNTU - Hyderabad.

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