Over Two Dozen Students Detained During March to Parliament Over NEET-UG Row

New Delhi, June 24 – Over two dozen students, including members of the Congress-affiliated National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), were detained on Monday while protesting against irregularities in the NEET-UG and the cancellation of the UGC-NET exams at Jantar Mantar. The NSUI had organized a march to Parliament on the day the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha commenced. Students gathered in large numbers at Jantar Mantar, holding placards and NSUI flags for their ‘Chhatra Sansad Gherav.’ In anticipation of the protest, police had barricaded the area to prevent the students from marching. There was heavy deployment of Delhi police, including paramilitary forces, at the site. Visuals of the protest shared with the media showed some students attempting to breach the barricades, with a few climbing the structure. They were detained by Delhi police and taken to different police stations, as the march did not have permission, an officer stated. Amid demands for the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for undergraduates (NEET-UG) held on May 5, the Union Education Ministry stated that incidents of malpractices were “localized” or “isolated,” and it would be unfair to jeopardize the careers of the many candidates who rightfully cleared the exam. The CBI has filed an FIR regarding the alleged irregularities under IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating), among others. The UGC-NET 2024 exam, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on June 18 in two shifts across the country, was postponed after the government expressed concerns that the “integrity of the examination may have been compromised.”