Meghalaya, Nagaland exempted from CUET | Guwahati News - Times of India
Source: The Times of India
Author: Kangkan Kalita
Guwahati: The Centre has exempted undergraduate students seeking admissions to colleges affiliated to central universities in Meghalaya and Nagaland from appearing in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for the academic year 2024-25. The North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) in Meghalaya and Nagaland University in Nagaland are central universities.
The decision has brought a huge relief to hundreds of students in the northeast who did not appear for the CUET-UG exam and would have faced difficulties without the exemption.
In Meghalaya, despite many students appearing for the exam, there were reports of mismanagement by NEHU, leading to an unacceptable delay in the commencement of the exam, causing chaos and confusion.
Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma on Wednesday thanked Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan for his unwavering support in granting the exemption. "Happy to inform our students that admissions to affiliated colleges to Central University's in Meghalaya have been exempted from CUET for this academic year. I thank @dpradhanbjp ji for his continuous support and understanding," Conrad wrote on X.
Later, Conrad said he had personally requested Pradhan to exempt the colleges affiliated to NEHU from the CUET exam. He acknowledged that the Centre had exempted Meghalaya in the past as well, and appreciated the govt's decision to do so again for Meghalaya besides Nagaland. "This will go a long way in helping our students," he said.
He expressed optimism that most colleges in Meghalaya would be affiliated to the state university by next year, eliminating the need for such exemptions in the future.
The exemption was granted following requests from the govts of Meghalaya and Nagaland, which were communicated through the National Testing Agency (NTA), the body responsible for conducting the CUET. In a letter sent by a senior official of the Union education ministry to the vice chancellors of both NEHU and Nagaland University as well as the director (exams) of NTA on Tuesday, it was stated that the UGC had already considered the request received from the Nagaland govt and had allowed affiliated colleges in the state to admit students as per the prevailing practice, granting them exemption from CUET for the academic year 2024-25.
The letter further mentioned that the UGC had taken into account the decision made by the ministry and agreed to allow admissions in the colleges affiliated to central universities in Meghalaya and Nagaland, namely NEHU and Nagaland University, as per the existing practice, without CUET.
In Assam, the situation is slightly different. While appearing for CUET has not been mandatory for general degree colleges affiliated to state varsities, a significant number of students have not taken the exam, mainly due to a lack of awareness. However, some universities and autonomous colleges in Assam have allocated a certain percentage of seats under the CUET quota.