Congress Demands Education Minister's Resignation, NTA Disbandment Over UGC-NET Exam Irregularities
The Congress party on Thursday (July 8, 2026) demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the disbandment of the National Testing Agency (NTA) following allegations of irregularities in the UGC-NET examination.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report stating that several students who appeared for the Sociology paper in the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) on June 30 have alleged that the examination was leaked.
Mr. Ramesh noted that shortly after the NEET-UG exam leak in May 2026, the Education Minister announced that NEET would be conducted via computer-based test (CBT) from next year, implying that a CBT paper cannot be leaked. However, he pointed to reports that the UGC-NET Sociology examination, despite being CBT, appears to have been leaked. He also mentioned that earlier, questions in the UGC-NET English Exam were allegedly lifted from past papers.
"The bottom line is that whatever be the format of the exam, paper leaks and irregularities are occurring because the Modi government's Education Ministry is compromised and the NTA is deliberately incompetent and incapacitated," Mr. Ramesh alleged. He demanded: "The Mantri Pradhan must resign and the NTA must be disbanded."
Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, also attacked the government on Wednesday over the alleged irregularities. He shared a screenshot of a media report claiming that student leaders in Rohtak, Haryana, had levelled serious allegations regarding the UGC-NET June 2026 examination conducted by the NTA.
In a post in Hindi, Mr. Gandhi said, "The serious allegations that have surfaced regarding last week's UGC-NET exam are utterly shocking. Just a few weeks after the NEET paper leak, reports are now emerging that a 100-page PDF was circulated right before the UGC-NET exam. This PDF pertains to the question paper setting, which is available only with the NTA. Nearly 90 questions in the PDF match those from the actual Sociology question paper."
Mr. Gandhi added, "Even after the repeated scams in NEET and NET, the Modi government continues to turn a blind eye and sleep soundly, because the years of hard work put in by lakhs of students — who burn the midnight oil — holds no value for them."
There was no immediate response from the NTA to the allegations.
