Shillong, May 13: The opposition Trinamool Congress on Tuesday criticised the MDA government over the recurring CUET-UG exam centre chaos, calling it a “manufactured mess” and a failure that has now become routine.
TMC leader Richard Marak said it was unacceptable that, for the third year in a row, students from across Meghalaya are being forced to travel to distant centres in Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Mizoram, Nagaland, and even Kolkata.
“Students are suffering due to the state government’s continued failure to ensure adequate CUET-UG exam centres within the state,” he said, adding that the burden on rural and poor families is immense.
“This is not a sudden crisis, it’s a predictable collapse. The government knew what was needed: more certified centres with sufficient computer nodes. Instead, the Education Minister is now scrambling with letters to the NTA after allocations are done. That’s not leadership, it’s damage control,” Marak said.
He dismissed the Chief Minister’s public appeal to the Union Education Minister as mere optics. “This government is responding to a fire it refused to put out. For three years, they’ve had the same homework and every year, they’ve failed.”
Even the Education Department’s recent move to send 200 nodes for inspection drew flak. “Why now? Why not months ago? Why wait for students to suffer?” he questioned.
Calling for a dedicated task force by June 2025, Marak said the solution lies in planning, coordination and political will not lip service. “Our children’s future is not a stage for photo ops. This is not just a shortcoming; it’s a betrayal. Meghalaya deserves better than a government that wakes up only after the damage is done.”