‘NTA makes mistake, students serve sentence’: Rahul slams UGC-NET retest

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi government over the UGC-NET retest, accusing the National Testing Agency (NTA) of failing students and demanding accountability from its leadership.

In a post on X, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha alleged that the examination system had become an “extraction machine”, claiming that students were being forced to pay the price for institutional failures.

“Modi ji, look at what your NTA has just done,” Rahul Gandhi said, referring to the cancellation of the UGC-NET papers in English, Commerce and Sociology.

He said the three papers were conducted between June 22 and 30 but were cancelled nearly two months later following complaints about errors, including the setting of faulty questions and repetition of old questions.

“Thousands of candidates who prepared for years, filled forms, paid the fees, travelled to distant centres, must now do it all again in September,” Rahul Gandhi said.

“NTA makes the mistake but the student serves the sentence,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi questions paper-leak probe

Rahul Gandhi also questioned whether the examination papers had been leaked before the test, saying the NTA had yet to provide answers on what he described as the “real question”.

He alleged that there would be no accountability for the lapses and reiterated his demand for action against those responsible.

The Congress leader said the resignation of former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan would be “the first step, not the last”, while insisting that the NTA leadership must also be held accountable.

Addressing students appearing for the retest, Gandhi said they were not responsible for the disruptions and accused the government of making students bear the consequences of failures in the examination system.

NTA announces September retest

The NTA announced on Sunday that three UGC-NET June 2026 papers — English, Commerce and Sociology — would be conducted again following complaints regarding errors in the question papers.

The English examination is scheduled for 9 September from 9 am to noon, while the Commerce paper will be held the same day from 3 pm to 6 pm. The Sociology paper is scheduled for 10 September from 9 am to noon.

The UGC-NET June 2026 examination was conducted between 22 and 30 June across 87 subjects for determining eligibility for Junior Research Fellowship, appointment as assistant professor and admission to PhD programmes.

The Congress has repeatedly targeted the NTA over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, particularly since the controversy surrounding the NEET examination and its subsequent retest.

With PTI inputs