Rahul Gandhi slams NTA over UGC-NET retest, demands accountability

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday (August 17) lashed out at the Centre over the UGC-NET re-examination. Alleging that the National Testing Agency (NTA) makes a mistake and then students have to suffer for it, the Congress leader demanded that the NTA leadership must be held accountable for the issue.

Rahul, in a post X, dubbed the current education system as “an extraction machine" urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into the NTA’s actions.

‘Look at what your NTA has just done’

"Modi ji, look at what your NTA has just done. UGC-NET exams for Sociology, English and Commerce were held between 22 and 30 June. Nearly two months later, NTA has cancelled all three because it set faulty papers and repeated old questions," stated Rahul.

Elaborating further, the Congress leader said that thousands of candidates who prepared for years, filled forms, paid the fees, and travelled to distant centres must now do it all again in September.

"NTA makes the mistake, but the student serves the sentence," he said, adding, "I said this in Kota, in Dehradun, in Prayagraj, and I will keep saying it - this is no longer an education system. It is an extraction machine. It takes your money, your years, your mental health, and your confidence and returns nothing. Not even a job.”

Rahul questions NTA accountability

"NTA still won't answer the real question - were these papers leaked before the exam?” Just like every other arm of the Modi government, NTA never says it's their fault. Just like every other compromised paper, I am absolutely sure there will be no accountability," added Rahul.

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Referring to Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation as Union Education Minister following the NEET paper leak and the Cockroach Janata Party - (CJP) led protest which followed, Rahul said that it was the first step, not the last. "NTA's leadership must be held accountable too,” stated Rahul.

"To every student sitting this exam again in September - you are not the problem. PM Modi built a system that cannot run an exam and then blames the students who take it. Your years are being stolen and we will not stop until PM Modi answers for it," he added.

NTA announces September retest

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Sunday (August 16) announced the retest for three papers of the UGC-NET June 2026 examination - English, Commerce and Sociology - following complaints about several errors in these papers.

The English paper will be held on September 9 from 9 am to 12 noon in Shift 1, while the Commerce paper will be conducted the same day from 3 pm to 6 pm in Shift 2.

The Sociology paper will be held on September 10 from 9 am to 12 noon in Shift 1.

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The NTA conducted the UGC-NET June 2026 examination from June 22 to 30 across 87 subjects for the award of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), eligibility for assistant professor, and admission to PhD programmes.

The Congress has been targeting the NTA ever since the NEET examination paper was leaked and the NTA conducted a re-exam.

(With agency inputs)