The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday announced the postponement of the Common University Entrance Test for Undergraduate Admissions (CUET-UG) in Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), which will now be held on May 29 and May 26, respectively .
The decision to postpone the exams in Manipur comes after the state government’s recommendation due to the ongoing tension between ethnic groups in the northeastern state. In Jammu and Kashmir, NTA has rescheduled the exam to set up temporary exam centers within the region to facilitate the students to take the exam easily.
In a statement, the NTA clarified that the CUET-UG examination will proceed as per schedule in the remaining parts of the country, in line with the National Education Policy 2020. The exams are to be held from May 21 to June 6.
“After consulting the state (Manipur) administration, it has been advised to conduct all examinations in the state of Manipur from May 29, 2023,” the agency said in a statement.
The NTA said that 3,697 candidates from Manipur had opted to appear for the exam in the state.
“However, NTA has carefully reviewed the law and order situation in consultation with the State Administration and has contacted these candidates telephonically to inquire about their preferred city for the said examination. Some candidates who were not in Manipur or wanted to take the exam in any other state/city are being allotted in other cities i.e. Delhi, Guwahati etc. The option to change the center is still available for candidates from Manipur,” the agency said.
To the candidates who have already received their admit cards for the examinations to be held between May 21 and 24, as well as city information slips for the examinations to be held between May 25 to 28, the NTA has requested them to If they want to change their exam centers then contact the agency. From Delhi, Guwahati etc to Imphal.
The agency said that in the case of Jammu and Kashmir, temporary test centers will be set up in the Kashmir region amid an unprecedented increase in the number of applications from the union territory this year.
University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman M Jagadesh Kumar, who is monitoring the CUET along with the NTA, said, “Being sensitive to the needs of the candidates and for the convenience of the students of J&K, NTA has decided to set up temporary centres. Looking for possibilities. Kashmir. Therefore, it has been decided that CUET (UG) will now be conducted in the UT Jammu & Kashmir from May 26, 2023.
HT reported on Thursday that the NTA was scrambling to arrange enough centers in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand due to a surge in CUET applications, forcing it to extend the last date for the exam across the country till June 6.
Officials said 87,309 students from Jammu and Kashmir have applied for the exam this year, which is six times more than last year’s figure of 13,021. In Jharkhand, the number increased nearly seven times from 26,497 to 178,630.
Kumar said that the Jammu and Kashmir administration is helping in setting up new examination centres. “We are trying to center maximum number of students coming from J&K within the state. In the case of students from Delhi, whose centers are in Meerut, we are also in the process of going back to the NCR region as far as possible,” he said.
