Rajya Sabha adjourned till noon amid Opposition uproar over NEET row

Opposition members enter Well of House demanding immediate discussion on alleged irregularities in exam

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon on Friday as opposition members created uproar and entered the Well of the House demanding an immediate discussion on the issue of alleged irregularities in the NEET exam.

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar did not approve of 22 notices by members from the Opposition Benches under a rule to suspend listed business of the day and hold discussion on the NEET issue.

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Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge urged the Chairman to accept the demand for discussion.

However, Dhankhar did not agree, and asked BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi to initiate the discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.

As Trivedi started his speech, several opposition members entered the Well of the House raising slogans. They were also demanding resignation of the Union Education Minister.

Dhankhar asked the opposition members standing in the Well to return to their seats. He also warned that they could be named.

But the Opposition did not relent, leading to adjournment of the proceedings till 12 noon.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG was conducted by the NTA on May 5 with around 24 lakh candidates taking part in it.

The results were announced on June 4, but they were followed by allegations of question paper leaks in States such as Bihar, besides other irregularities.

The Education Ministry also cancelled the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) and NEET (postgraduate) examinations after receiving inputs that the exams’ “integrity may have been compromised.