Frequent exam cancellations and postponements amid allegations of question paper leaks have put candidates on the precipice of despair as they lurch from one disappointment to another for no fault of theirs. For some of them, the run of “bad luck” seems unending.
For instance, it's a hat-trick of woes for Ambedkar Nagar's Ujjwal Mishra and a double whammy for Lakhimpur Kheri's Parak Verma after the cancellation of UGC NET exam following allegations that the examination's integrity has been compromised.
For Mishra, 25, this is yet another instance of an exam getting cancelled due to a paper leak or it being postponed because of unforeseen circumstances.
Hoping to secure a government job, Mishra appeared in the Review Officer (RO)/Assistant Review Officer (ARO) (Preliminary) Examination held in February this year.
“A total of 10,69,725 candidates had applied for the recruitment. But it was cancelled by the UP government following a paper leak. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered the cancellation of the RO/ARO (Preliminary) Examination following reports of a paper leak on social media. The CM directed that the exam be conducted again within six months. Now, it was announced that the paper will be held in December,” he said. The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) conducted the UPPSC RO ARO examination.
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Then, Mishra turned his mind towards the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission PCS exam that was to be held on March 17. The exam was rescheduled to July and then to October 27, 2024.
“The exam was expected to be held in July but it was further postponed till October. The commission released the UPPSC PCS Prelims 2024 exam dates on its official website. The UPPSC PCS prelims exam 2024 will be conducted offline at the designated UPPSC exam centres. The UPPSC 2024 admit card is expected to be released in October,” he said.
“Then, I prepared for UGC NET for June and it also got cancelled. Now I will have to prepare for the NET exam again. I want the Union government to cancel the National Testing Agency license and it (the exam) should be conducted by any other recognised agency,” he said.
Ujjwal Mishra wants to follow in the footsteps of his father, a teacher.
“We are from a middle-class family and have been preparing for the government exam. The PCS exam is conducted once every 2 to 3 years and there are limited vacancies. The RO/ARO exams were held in February and were cancelled on March 2,” he said.
” The exam dates of UPPSC RO and ARO have now been finalised in December 2024. Students complained about spending so much time, money and efforts. They have to enrol at coaching centres two to three times and pay again and again for the same (course),” he said.
Also Read: 'This is your govt…have faith': Centre's assurance to students after UGC-NET 2024 cancelled
Parakh Verma, 23, also appeared in the RO, ARO examination in February which was cancelled.
She then took the UGC NET June that also got cancelled.
Verma, who completed her master's in political science from Lucknow University Science, said, “It is mental torture. Some top officials should be held accountable.”
Abhinav Bajpai, 21, is in a similar predicament. He did master's in political science from Lucknow University and appeared for NET in December. Though he qualified, he did not get the desired marks to be a Junior Research Fellow.
He appeared in the UGC NET again in June to improve his marks. “I was very happy with my paper and was hoping to get good marks. But all my hard work got wasted. As candidates, we face a lot of problems in reaching the exam centres as they are very far away,” Bajpai said.
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Abdul Wahab, 24, was all smiles after writing the UGC NET for Political Science on June 18.
“My UGC NET exam went fairly well and I was expecting to at least qualify the NET and maybe JRF too. All hopes dashed last night when I got the information that the ministry cancelled the exam. NTA continues its infamous legacy,” he said.
“This came as a shock. It feels that my hard work went in vain. The centralization of education now seems like a bane for students,” Abdul said.
Adarsh Kumar, who did master's in political science from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU), Lucknow, was preparing for UGC NET for a year. He appeared in the December NET exam but could not clear it.
“This time, I prepared hard and was satisfied after writing the exam. I want to pursue PhD after clearing UGC NET. Now, I must prepare afresh for the exam. It is a massive loss of time. Several students, who appeared in the exam in Lucknow, returned home. If NTA decides to conduct the exam afresh, they will have to come back,” he said.
Rajat Rana, who has done post-graduation in physics from BBAU, Lucknow, was in tears after the authorities took a call to cancel the UGC NET June exam.
“I feel bad that every time a major exam gets cancelled after a leak,” he said.
Also Read: NEET-UG, UGC-NET row: 'BJP's corruption is weakening the country,' says Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
Students' Federation of India's BBAU unit, along with students and other students' organizations of BBAU, protested against the cancellation of UGC-NET outside gate no. 1 of the university on Thursday. The students ended the protest by burning effigies of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and NTA chairman Pradeep Kumar Joshi.
(Inputs by Shreya Arora)
