NEET-UG, UGC-NET Row: Students Protest Against Education Minister At DU Yoga Day Event

NEET Paper Leak Case: AISA activists along with students of Delhi University protested against Dharmendra Pradhan against alleged irregularities in NEET-UG and UGC-NET.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan skipped DU's Yoga Day event due to student protests. ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: Protesting against the alleged irregularities in NEET-UG and UGC-NET exams, student demonstrated at an Yoga Day event on the Delhi University campus Friday where Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was supposed to be present. Pradhan, was scheduled to be the chief guest at the International Yoga Day event starting at 6 am, as per a hoarding put up on the campus. The minister, however, did not turn up. PIB later said he was not scheduled to attend the event.

Members of the Left-wing outfit, All India Students' Association (AISA), and other university students held a demonstration in North Campus, and also waved black flags. The AISA unit of Delhi University claimed that the minister avoided the event due to the protest, as reported by news agency PTI.

"In response to the sheer audacity of Pradhan to even think of coming to DU while he and his NTA have jeopardised the future of students, AISA activists along with students of Delhi University protested against his presence in the university," the association said in a statement.

Sources in the government, however, told ABP News that the hoarding announcing Pradhan's presence at the event was put up without his confirmation. 

As per the government sources, the university had been communicated "in advance" that the minister would not ben able to attand the International Yoga Day event scheduled on the campus.

Students Demand Pradhan's Resignation

The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts the NEET-UG medical entrance exam and the UGC-NET test to determine eligibility for assistant professors and junior research fellowships in universities and colleges.

During the protest, AISA stated that "students were informed that due to fear of the protest, the Minister of Education did not even show up for the event" and added, "the corrupt and arrogant Education Minister is not welcome in our university."

The student body also demanded Pradhan's resignation and the dissolution of the NTA.

In a press conference late Thursday, Pradhan accepted "moral responsibility" for the "institutional failure" of the NTA in conducting the exams and announced that the government would set up a high-level committee to review its functioning and recommend reforms.