New Delhi, Congress' student and youth wings took to the streets of the national capital on Thursday over alleged irregularities in the conduct of NEET-UG and UGC-NET exams, with NSUI members forcibly entering the headquarters of the NTA and closing its office, and The AIJ organizes a huge protest at Jantar Mantar.
The National Students Union of India (NSUI) has threatened to close down NTA offices across the country if its demand to ban it is not met.
Police resorted to lathicharge to disperse protesters at Jantar Mantar, where the Indian Youth Congress, the Left-affiliated Indian Students' Association (AISA) and Delhi University's Krantikari Yuva Sangathan continued their indefinite sit-in for the second day on the issue.
At the National Testing Agency (NTA) headquarters in Okhla, the Delhi Police has deployed a team of security personnel to prevent a repeat of any such protest.
NSUI members stormed the testing agency's headquarters during the protest led by its national president Varun Choudhary.
The group of students staged a sit-in inside the NTA office for almost an hour and left when senior police officers reached the spot.
Footage from the scene showed NSUI members raising "shut down NTA" slogans inside the agency building. It also showed the students locking the NTA office with an iron padlock and chain.
"The NTA officials had locked the door from inside while the students were protesting. Later, the protesters also locked the door from outside with an iron chain and padlock," a police officer said.
"No more corrupt NTA. #NTA BAN," read a message stuck on the iron padlock and chain.
The student group has threatened to close NTA offices across the country if their demand to scrap the testing agency is not met.
There was no immediate response from the NTA on the incident.
In another protest on the same day, the IYC organized a massive rally at Jantar Mantar over the NEET-UG exam and against the Agniveer scheme.
The youth wing of Congress accused the police of using batons against protesters. A large crowd of IYC workers, led by its national president Srinivas BV, gathered at Jantar Mantar with anti-NTA banners.
When the Youth Congress workers began to advance towards Parliament, as announced earlier, the police tried to stop them by erecting barricades.
They also charged protesters and detained many IYC workers, footage from the protest site showed.
However, a senior police officer rejected the lathicharge allegations and said "mild force" was used when protesters tried to break the barricades.
According to the police, the IYC had fixed a time of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the protest. As they did not disperse from the area beyond the allowed time and when they stood at the barricades, the police used mild force to disperse them from there.
"Moderate force was used only after (the students) threw stones and bottles at the police deployed near the barricades," the officer said.
The officer said some of the protesters tried to break the barricades by pushing a parked water tanker toward them.
Around 60 protesters were detained at the scene, the officer said.
Members of AISA and other student groups also staged a demonstration in large numbers carrying 'dhaplis', posters and banners. They demanded that the NTA be scrapped and demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
According to the police officer, a case may be registered against NSUI and IYC for creating ruckus at the NTA office and Jantar Mantar.
The NTA conducted the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG on May 5 and around 24 lakh candidates participated. The results were announced on June 4, but were followed by allegations of question paper leaks in states such as Bihar, besides other irregularities.
The Education Ministry also canceled the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) and NEET (postgraduate) exams after receiving information that the "integrity of the exams may have been compromised".
The National Students Union of India (NSUI) has threatened to close down NTA offices across the country if its demand to ban it is not met.
Police resorted to lathicharge to disperse protesters at Jantar Mantar, where the Indian Youth Congress, the Left-affiliated Indian Students' Association (AISA) and Delhi University's Krantikari Yuva Sangathan continued their indefinite sit-in for the second day on the issue.
At the National Testing Agency (NTA) headquarters in Okhla, the Delhi Police has deployed a team of security personnel to prevent a repeat of any such protest.
NSUI members stormed the testing agency's headquarters during the protest led by its national president Varun Choudhary.
The group of students staged a sit-in inside the NTA office for almost an hour and left when senior police officers reached the spot.
Footage from the scene showed NSUI members raising "shut down NTA" slogans inside the agency building. It also showed the students locking the NTA office with an iron padlock and chain.
"The NTA officials had locked the door from inside while the students were protesting. Later, the protesters also locked the door from outside with an iron chain and padlock," a police officer said.
"No more corrupt NTA. #NTA BAN," read a message stuck on the iron padlock and chain.
The student group has threatened to close NTA offices across the country if their demand to scrap the testing agency is not met.
There was no immediate response from the NTA on the incident.
In another protest on the same day, the IYC organized a massive rally at Jantar Mantar over the NEET-UG exam and against the Agniveer scheme.
The youth wing of Congress accused the police of using batons against protesters. A large crowd of IYC workers, led by its national president Srinivas BV, gathered at Jantar Mantar with anti-NTA banners.
When the Youth Congress workers began to advance towards Parliament, as announced earlier, the police tried to stop them by erecting barricades.
They also charged protesters and detained many IYC workers, footage from the protest site showed.
However, a senior police officer rejected the lathicharge allegations and said "mild force" was used when protesters tried to break the barricades.
According to the police, the IYC had fixed a time of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the protest. As they did not disperse from the area beyond the allowed time and when they stood at the barricades, the police used mild force to disperse them from there.
"Moderate force was used only after (the students) threw stones and bottles at the police deployed near the barricades," the officer said.
The officer said some of the protesters tried to break the barricades by pushing a parked water tanker toward them.
Around 60 protesters were detained at the scene, the officer said.
Members of AISA and other student groups also staged a demonstration in large numbers carrying 'dhaplis', posters and banners. They demanded that the NTA be scrapped and demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
According to the police officer, a case may be registered against NSUI and IYC for creating ruckus at the NTA office and Jantar Mantar.
The NTA conducted the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG on May 5 and around 24 lakh candidates participated. The results were announced on June 4, but were followed by allegations of question paper leaks in states such as Bihar, besides other irregularities.
The Education Ministry also canceled the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) and NEET (postgraduate) exams after receiving information that the "integrity of the exams may have been compromised".
