Guwahati, May 24: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has rescheduled the venue and date of two subjects of the ongoing Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG) for candidates of Silchar, considering a request from the Assam government.
The Bengali and Environmental Studies tests will now be held in Silchar on May 29, 2024. It was earlier scheduled to be held in an examination centre outside Silchar on Friday, posing challenges to candidates in Barak Valley.
“Due to logistical constraints, some candidates were assigned their examination centres outside Silchar for Bengali and Environmental Studies test papers to be conducted in CBT (computer-based test) mode on May 24, 2024. Based on their representation to change their examination centre to Silchar only, and to support the students’ community, it has been decided that for those candidates who will not be able to reach their assigned centres,” NTA senior director Sadhana Parashar informed.
“Such candidates are advised not to travel outside Silchar. Fresh admit cards to the concerned candidates will be released soon on the official website of the CUET (UG) 2024,” Parashar said, while adding, “this opportunity is being provided to those candidates only who opted for Silchar as the examination centre and have received an Admit Card for the CUET (UG) – 2024 for another city due to logistic reasons.”
The Assam government had recently urged the NTA to set up additional examination centres for the CUET-UG in Silchar so as to enable students from the three Barak Valley districts to take the test without any long-distance travel hassles.
In a letter to the NTA director general on Monday, Assam education minister Ranoj Pegu requested the NTA to hold the exam for Bengali and EVS subjects in Silchar.
Pegu further stated that the “current arrangement of exam centres for Bengali and EVS at Agartala (Tripura), Shillong (Meghalaya) and Guwahati posed immense challenges to candidates in Barak Valley, given the distance and logistical complexities involved.”
Notably, the NTA has been conducting the CUET-UG 2024 on hybrid mode (computer-based test and pen and paper mode) since May 15, 2024 across examination centres located in 379 cities, including 26 cities outside India, for about 13.48 lakh candidates.