Left parties demand scrapping of NTA, NEP after UGC-NET errors

Left parties have renewed their demand to scrap the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, after errors were found in three UGC-NET papers. The CPI(M) Polit Bureau said the mistakes in the English, Commerce and Sociology papers exposed the NTA's "abject incompetence" and the "entrenched rot" in the education system.

The CPI(M) described the NEP as the "root cause of the decay in the education system." According to The Hindu, CPI General Secretary D. Raja alleged the NEP promoted "centralisation, commercialisation and communalisation" of education and had encouraged a "coaching mafia." CPI (ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said removing the Union Education Minister was not enough and called for a comprehensive overhaul.

Greater Kashmir reported the CPI(M) also condemned the killing of Janab Mafik, father of a volunteer, in West Bengal. The NTA announced a retest for the three papers: English and Commerce on September 9 and Sociology on September 10, 2026.