Rahul Gandhi Demands Accountability From NTA Over Faulty Papers

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Testing Agency (NTA) after the agency announced fresh examinations for UGC-NET candidates in English, Commerce and Sociology. The three papers were cancelled following complaints about faulty question papers, with the retests scheduled for September. Gandhi accused the testing agency of making students bear the consequences of administrative failures after they had spent months preparing, paid examination fees and travelled to centres to take the original tests.

Reacting to the development, Gandhi said thousands of candidates would now have to repeat the process despite having already appeared for the examination. In a post on X, he directly addressed Prime Minister Modi and questioned the functioning of the NTA. Gandhi said the agency had made the mistake while students were being forced to “serve the sentence”. He argued that candidates should not have to bear the financial, academic and personal costs arising from failures in the examination system.

The NTA announced the re-examination nearly two months after the UGC-NET papers were conducted. According to the agency, the decision followed an examination of complaints by a special committee that looked into allegations concerning faulty question papers. English and Commerce candidates will take their retest on September 9, while the Sociology examination will be conducted on September 10. The agency has said candidates will not be charged an additional fee for appearing in the fresh examinations.

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Gandhi also questioned whether the disputed question papers could have been compromised before the examinations and demanded greater transparency from the NTA. He said the repeated examination-related controversies reflected what he described as a deeply flawed academic system. Referring to concerns he had previously raised in Kota, Dehradun and Prayagraj, the Congress leader alleged that the system was extracting money, time and effort from students without providing adequate accountability or outcomes.

The Congress MP also linked the latest controversy to the resignation of former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who left the post amid political pressure following the NEET paper leak controversy. Gandhi said Pradhan’s resignation should be viewed as only the first step towards correcting the examination system rather than the final action. He specifically called for accountability within the NTA leadership and argued that responsibility for examination failures should extend beyond individual political office holders.

Meanwhile, the NTA has said the retests will not affect the broader UGC-NET schedule. Results for candidates appearing in the other 84 subjects are expected to be declared as planned, and the agency has stated that the overall allocation of seats will not be reduced. The latest controversy, however, has renewed political and public scrutiny of the NTA and its examination procedures, with Gandhi demanding answers over the disputed papers and accountability for the disruption faced by affected candidates.

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