New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday launched a sharp attack on the National Testing Agency (NTA) after it ordered a complete re-conduct of the UGC-NET June 2026 examinations for English, Commerce and Sociology, accusing the agency of botching the papers and shifting the burden onto students.
“Modi ji, look at what your NTA has just done,” Gandhi said, targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly over the decision that will force thousands of aspirants to appear again in September. He said the NTA had set faulty question papers and reused old questions, leaving candidates with no option but to restart the process nearly two months after the original tests.
In a post on X, Gandhi wrote: “UGC-NET exams for Sociology, English and Commerce were held between 22 and 30 June. Nearly two months later, NTA has cancelled all three because it set faulty papers and repeated old questions.” He highlighted the human cost of the administrative failure, noting that students who had invested years of preparation, paid fees and travelled to distant exam centres would now have to do it all over again.
“Thousands of candidates who prepared for years, filled forms, paid the fees, travelled to distant centres, must now do it all again in September. NTA makes the mistake but the student serves the sentence,” Gandhi said.
He alleged that the examination ecosystem had degenerated into an “extraction machine” that drains students’ resources without delivering commensurate outcomes, as reported by the New Indian Express.
“I said this in Kota, in Dehradun, in Prayagraj, and I will keep saying it – this is no longer an education system. It is an extraction machine. It takes your money, your years, your mental health, and your confidence and returns nothing. Not even a job,” he said.
Gandhi also raised the spectre of possible paper leaks and demanded accountability from the top. “NTA still won’t answer the real question – were these papers leaked before the exam? Just like every other arm of the Modi government, NTA never says it’s their fault. Just like every other compromised paper, I am absolutely sure there will be no accountability,” he said.
Congress Presses For Accountability
The Congress leader called for accountability beyond the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, saying: “Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation was the first step, not the last. NTA’s leadership must be held accountable too. To every student sitting this exam again in September – you are not the problem.”
He added: “PM Modi built a system that cannot run an exam and then blames the students who take it. Your years are being stolen and we will not stop until PM Modi answers for it.”
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh echoed these concerns, asking why students should bear the consequences of systemic errors. He said the NTA had admitted, almost two months after the June 2026 exam, that the English, Commerce and Sociology papers contained factual, typographical and translation errors.
According to Ramesh, the defects included misspelt names of prominent scholars, garbled book titles, grammatical mistakes, problems with gender and number agreement, punctuation errors and the use of non-standard terms for established concepts. The NTA’s committee also found that a significant number of questions had been repeated from previous examinations.
“The question isn’t just why the exam is being held again. The question is how a question paper with such serious errors was prepared and approved in the first place,” Ramesh said.
He questioned who would be held responsible for lapses in a national-level exam linked to the careers of millions, and sought clarity on compensation for students who may miss the current academic session due to the delay. He also asked why results for the other 84 subjects remained pending.
NTA Admits Errors, Sets September Retest
The original UGC-NET June 2026 was held between June 22 and 30 across 87 subjects, determining eligibility for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), assistant professor posts and PhD admissions.
In a public notice, the NTA said it had received multiple complaints about errors in the three papers and set up a committee to investigate.
The committee’s findings included widespread factual, typographical and translation mistakes—scholars’ names misspelt, book titles distorted, question wording flawed, grammatical and agreement errors, punctuation slips and non-standard terms — along with many reuse questions from past examinations.
The NTA has scheduled fresh examinations on September 9 and 10: English on September 9 (9 am–noon), Commerce on the same day (3 pm–6 pm), and Sociology on September 10 (9 am–noon). It said no additional fee would be charged.
Ramesh said every day counted for June aspirants, since their chances at JRFs, assistant professor eligibility and PhD admissions hinge on the results.
He asked whether the Prime Minister, who often addresses the nation’s youth, would also speak on his government’s responsibility for the examination lapses.
“The youth of the country demands answers,” Ramesh said.
