UGC-NET exam cancelled; accessibility failures for disabled candidates reveal dark side [details] [Video]

Another controversy in higher education broke out when the National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled its UGC-NET examination. This cancellation is reported to have affected around 11 lakh exam candidates. Information from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs indicated that the integrity of the examination may have been compromised.

With this background, a crucial issue has been brought forward by a disability rights advocate and a UGC-NET candidate on social media. Kavya Mukhija drew attention to the dismal conditions faced while appearing for the now-canceled examination.

In her ‘X’ post, she states, “The NTA needs to realise that there are disabled people too, who had to travel across cities with caregivers and parents and navigate inaccessibility to appear in this exam.”

As a wheelchair user, Mukhija has described the issues she faced in detail through her postsmade …