Other Congress leaders accused the government of making students bear the cost of institutional failures and said they would continue raising the issue until Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded.
The Aam Aadmi Party similarly argued that examination failures were not minor administrative errors, given the time, money and opportunities students lose when tests are cancelled or repeated.
The criticism has also extended beyond Opposition parties. The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad expressed concern over the re-tests, with its national general-secretary Virendra Singh Solanki saying students’ futures could not be compromised and demanding accountability from the NTA.
Student groups including the NSUI, SFI, AISA and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan have held demonstrations in Delhi and announced further protests.
For students, another examination is not simply an administrative inconvenience. It means months of preparation have to be repeated, with additional financial and emotional costs and further uncertainty over admissions, fellowships and academic careers.
The NTA says its decision to identify the errors and order re-tests demonstrates that it is willing to acknowledge and correct mistakes. But that argument is increasingly being tested by the frequency with which the agency has had to make similar promises.
The NEET-UG controversy brought nationwide protests, a political storm and the removal of 47 personnel. It was followed by promises of stronger examination security and structural reforms. Now, barely weeks later, another examination controversy has produced another overhaul.
The question facing the NTA is therefore no longer just whether it can fix three flawed papers. It is whether repeated sackings, audits, specialist appointments and promised reforms can restore confidence in an examination agency whose credibility has been repeatedly tested.
With PTI inputs
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