CUET 2024 Exam: Paper 'Leak' In Kanpur, Exam Postponed In Delhi; What Went Wrong At NTA?

CUET 2024 Exam: The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate courses is underway. The commencement of CUET 2024 began on Wednesday at centers across the country. This year, 63 test papers are being conducted. The exam takes place in four shifts. The CUET is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The tests, which started on May 15, will continue until May 24. Offline exams will be held until May 18, after which they will be online. In the first two days itself, disturbing news came from various places.

Alleged Paper Leak Sparks Student Protest

The first exam of CUET 2024 was conducted on Wednesday (May 15). During this time, a major uproar occurred at the Maharana Pratap Group of Colleges in Kanpur. Students who arrived to take the exam in the evening shift reported that several students were already sitting in the rooms. They started a ruckus alleging that despite the exam being over, some students were being made to solve the paper while sitting in the rooms.

When the situation at the center level could not be controlled, the college administration called the police. The police tried to reason with the protesting students, but their anger flared up. In the meantime, stone-pelting started. When the police took strict action, the students started chanting slogans. This college falls within the limits of Chaubepur police station. After the uproar, a large number of police forces were deployed there.

Confusion Over Centers and Admit Cards in Delhi

On the first day of CUET 2024, exams were conducted at all centers except 258 in Delhi. The NTA has set up a total of 2,157 centers across the country for CUET. On Wednesday, there was a test of Chemistry, Biology, English, and General Studies. A student takes multiple tests. Amid confusion, the CUET-UG 2024 tests were conducted in Delhi on Thursday. Many students complained that their centers were changed at the last minute. Since admit cards were issued late on Wednesday evening, they also had trouble taking printouts.

A day earlier, the NTA had said on its website that the tests of May 15 are being postponed due to ‘unavoidable reasons’. The agency said in the notice that everyone will have to download new admit cards. This troubled about one and a half lakh students. Those who came from outside Delhi had to change the entire plan at the last minute. The NTA has said that the exam of May 15 in Delhi will be conducted on May 29.

Why Were the Exams Postponed?

The CUET 2024 exam in Delhi was postponed just a few hours before it was due to start. The NTA claims that due to the Lok Sabha elections, there is a shortage of manpower, so this had to be done.
An official of the NTA told the Indian Express, ‘CUET UG is conducted on a very large scale, we had selected many exam centers and invigilators are deployed for this process (exam). We were having trouble deploying enough invigilators for the exam of May 15 at the exam centers in Delhi due to the Lok Sabha elections. Therefore, the NTA has decided to conduct the exam of May 15 after the election, on May 29.’ This did not affect the exam schedule in other cities.