‘Shut down NTA’: NSUI barge into NTA office, demand its closure over NEET, CUET UG controversy

NEW DELHI: National Students Union of India (NSUI) members barged inside the office of the National Testing Agency (NTA) demanding immediate shut down. The students group, which has been protesting against the NEET UG paper leak and other irregularities, were heard raising slogans of “shut down NTA”.

Visuals from the scene shared by NSUI showed scores of its members raising slogans inside the building of the NTA. There was no immediate reaction from officials of the NTA about the incident, the PTI reported.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test undergraduate (NEET-UG) was conducted by the NTA on May 5 with around 24 lakh candidates taking part in it. The results were announced on June 4, but they were followed by allegations of question paper leaks in states such as Bihar, besides other irregularities.

“The protest was marked by an attempt to lock the NTA office, symbolizing the frustration and anger of students nationwide over the agency's repeated failures,” the official statement read.

Meanwhile, the CBI made its first arrest in the NEET-UG paper leak case, taking two people in custody in Patna. They allegedly provided safe accommodation to the NEET aspirants before the exam where they were given leaked question papers and answer keys.

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The protest was staged in the wake of recent reports on CUET-UG answer sheets 2024 being found in unsealed packages, which has raised serious concerns about the security and fairness of the examination process.

NSUI national president Varun Choudhary, who spearheaded a protest, said: "Students across the country are suffering due to the inefficiencies and negligence of the NTA," said Varun Choudhary during the protest.

"The frequent postponements and paper leaks are not just administrative failures; they are a direct attack on the future of our youth. We demand that the NTA be banned and a more reliable, transparent system be put in place." "From tomorrow, we will lock NTA offices all over India if our demand to ban the NTA is not met," he said.