NTA Website Not Hacked, CUET Boxes Not Stored in Open: PIB Fact-checks Videos, Calls Them Fake

Two videos about the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA) have gone viral, which were debunked and labelled as fake by the Press Information Bureau while the examination body also issued a clarification on its social media handle.

One video claimed that the website of the National Testing Agency (NTA) was hacked till June 18 with its data sold on the Darkweb. The other claimed that boxes for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) were being stored out in the open with their seals broken. The clips have sparked concerns online about the security and integrity of the exam process amid the exams row linked to paper leaks in the NEET-UG 2024 and UGC-NET, which was cancelled after the question paper was found circulating on the Darkweb.

The Press Information Bureau (PIB) conducted a fact check for both and said the videos are fake while the NTA said the CUET boxes kept outside the hall on its campus are, in fact, empty and do not contain any “sensitive material” and such boxes are guarded by sufficient security personnel.

“These are empty boxes kept outside the hall at NTA and do not have any sensitive material inside them. Never did we keep these boxes in open, as being reported by the media. Also, we have sufficient number of security personnel deployed at the place where boxes are kept,” the NTA said in a post on X.

The PIB also said the claim that CUET boxes were being stored in the open are “completely fake”.

For the other claim about the NTA website being hacked, the PIB said any information about its data being compromised or sold is “false & baseless”. The agency’s website and its online portals are “fully secure”, it added.

Meanwhile, different student outfits under the banner ‘India against NTA’ staged their indefinite sit-in at the Jantar Mantar for the second day on Thursday, to protest the alleged irregularities in several centrally held examinations like NEET-UG, PG and UGC-NET.

The students gathered in large numbers at the Jantar Mantar carrying ‘dhaplis’, posters and banners with slogans like “justice for NEET applicants”, “NTA’s failure puts our future in danger” and “paper leaks have one solution, NTA’s dissolution”.

Several newly elected MPs like CPI (ML) Liberation MP Raja Ram Singh also participated in the protest in solidarity with the students and addressed the gathering. The protest was jointly staged by Left-backed student groups like All India Students Association (AISA), Delhi University’s Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), Disha students organisation among others.

Earlier on Wednesday (June 26), the student outfits started the protest at the Jantar Mantar and were detained later in the day for attempting to continue the demonstration for the entire night. The Delhi Police detained over a dozen students from the site ending the protest as staging demonstration after 5 pm is not allowed.

The students demanded scrapping of the NTA and resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the issue. The NEET-UG was conducted 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.

(With PTI inputs)