JNU Teachers’ Association prez calls for Parl probe into NTA
NEW DELHI: On Friday, Jantar Mantar witnessed a powerful demonstration, as hundreds of students from across the country gathered for Parliament march at the call of All India Students’ Association (AISA), demanding a comprehensive probe into the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the University Grants Commission (UGC). The protest, under the banner of ‘India Against NTA,’ was a response to the growing concerns over the centralisation and commercialisation of education in India, with the NTA at the center of these allegations.
The protest was marked by unified demand for the resignation of Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan alongwith: complete scrapping of NTA, conducting public exams for admissions and recruitment in a decentralised manner and enacting of rent control and private coaching control acts.
The demonstrators accused the NTA, registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860, of perpetuating a corrupt and opaque system that has systematically eroded the autonomy of educational institutions in India.
Professor Moushumi Basu, President of the JNU Teachers’ Association, led the charge, calling for a Parliament probe into the NTA and UGC. She highlighted the NTA’s questionable status, stating, “While Dharmendra Pradhan lies about NTA being a government agency, even a Memorandum of Association cannot be found between the NTA and his ministry. This is a clear indication of the shadowy nature of this organisation, which has usurped the role of government bodies in conducting crucial exams.”
Basu further criticised the NTA’s takeover of admission processes from universities, citing the example of JNU. “Jagdish Kumar Mamidala, during his tenure as JNU’s Vice-Chancellor, bulldozed through the Academic Council meetings to force JNU’s association with the NTA. This move was never in the interest of the students or the university’s autonomy,” she asserted.
The protest also shed light on the tragic deaths of three UPSC aspirants in Old Rajinder Nagar, which has long been a hub for coaching institutes. Prasanjeet Kumar, National President of AISA, condemning private coaching centres, said, “friendship with private coaching institutes at the cost of the lives of innocent students is a blatant example of this government’s anti-student nature. He further demanded, “The families of the students who were killed due to Rau IAS Coaching Institute’s mismanagement must be provided with dignified compensation, and strict measures must be taken to rein in the loot of the private coaching mafia.”
Demonstrators urged the implementation of Rent Control and Private Coaching Control Acts, citing the unchecked rise of private coaching centers that have led to students living in poor conditions while paying high rents.
