Postpone June 23 exam amid controversies around NEET-UG: Shashi Tharoor

He also cited the current heat wave situation in certain parts of India as a reason behind postponing the examination.

"Given the allegations surrounding the conduct of NEET-UG exams, I urge the Government to postpone NEET-PG scheduled on June 23rd," Tharoor posted on X.
"Additionally, as an MP from Kerala, I must point out that due to the shortage of seats in examination centres here, hundreds of people from the Southern states of India are forced to come North to take this exam — and the current severe heatwave situation in the North, which has taken the lives of over 100 people in the last 3 months, and resulted in some 40,000 suspected heatstroke cases, puts these students unnecessarily at risk," he said.

" All in all, it would be be best to defer the examination until all these pending issues are resolved," he said.

In an important step amid the controversies surrounding the NEET and UGC-NET exams, the Centre has notified a stringent law that was passed in February to prevent question paper leaks and cheating.

The notification of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, comes just a day after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was asked about when it would be implemented. The minister had said the law ministry was framing the rules.

Under the Act, any person found guilty of leaking a paper or tampering with answer sheets will receive a minimum jail term of three years. This can be extended to five years with a fine of up to Rs. 10 lakh.

Examination service providers who have knowledge about a possible offence but do not report it can be fined up to Rs. 1 crore.

During the investigation, if it is established that any senior official from the service provider had allowed or was involved in committing the offence, he will face imprisonment for a minimum of three years, which can go up to 10 years, and a fine of Rs. 1 crore.

If the examination authority or the service provider commits an organised crime, the jail term will be a minimum of five years and a maximum of 10, and the fine will remain Rs. 1 crore.

The notification mentions the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita but adds that the provisions of the Indian Penal Code will remain in effect until it is implemented. The Sanhita and the other criminal laws are scheduled to come into effect on July 1.

The Central Bureau of Investigation registered a First Information Report (FIR) into the UGC-NET paper leak case on Thursday against unidentified persons on a reference from the Union Education Ministry, media reports said.

The UGC-NET, 2024, exam for the selection of junior research fellows, assistant professors and PhD scholars was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on June 18 in two shifts across the country.

The next day, the University Grants Commission received inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre that the paper was leaked online and was allegedly being sold for Rs. 5-6 lakh on messaging platforms, media reports said.