The National Testing Agency on Friday announced the new dates of the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test, the National Common Entrance Test and the Joint Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test.

These competitive entrance examinations were either cancelled or deferred in light of recent allegations of paper leaks and other irregularities in tests conducted by the National Testing Agency.

The University Grants Commission–National Eligibility Test, conducted for the post of assistant professor in universities and colleges, will now be held from August 21 to September 4.

The exam was held on June 18, but cancelled the next day on the grounds that its integrity “may have been compromised”. Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan had said on June 20 that the question paper was leaked and circulated on the Telegram messaging app.

Pradhan took moral responsibility for students’ loss of confidence in the conduct of competitive examinations.

The Joint Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test, conducted for the posts of Junior Research Fellowship and lectureship or assistant professor in universities, will now be held from July 25 to July 27.

On June 21, the National Testing Agency had deferred the examination citing “unavoidable circumstances as well as logistic issues”.

The National Common Entrance Test is conducted for admissions to the four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme in select central and state universities or institutions. It was postponed hours before it was scheduled to be held on June 12.

The examination will now be conducted on July 10.

The National Testing Agency has been in the middle of a row concerning alleged irregularities and paper leaks in competitive entrance examinations.

The controversy began with allegations of paper leaks, “arbitrary” awarding of grace marks to some candidates and other irregularities in the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test for admissions to undergraduate medical courses conducted on May 5.

The NEET-UG examination has not been cancelled, but the Supreme Court is currently hearing a clutch of petitions seeking that it be rescheduled.

On June 22, the National Testing Agency also deferred the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test for admissions to post-graduate medical courses in the country, also known as the NEET-PG exam.

The NEET-PG exam, which was scheduled for June 23, was cancelled “in the best interests of the students and to maintain the sanctity of the examination process,” the health ministry had said in a statement. It clarified that the rescheduled dates for the test would be announced after “a thorough assessment of the robustness of processes of NEET-PG Entrance Examination”.

To be sure, the NEET-PG exam is not conducted by the National Testing Agency but the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences.

The Union government on June 22 sacked the National Testing Agency’s Director General Subodh Kumar Singh. Retired 1985 batch Indian Administrative Services officer Pradeep Singh Kharola has taken over the post.

Also read: How a messaging app that helps students prepare for exams enabled paper leaks