Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. (File Photo)
Chennai: Chief Minister MK Stalin urged Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to immediately intervene and reschedule the UGC-NET and others examinations, proposed to be held from January 13 to 16, as the people of the State would be celebrating Pongal, the most important festival during that time.
In a letter to the Union Minister on Tuesday, Stalin said: "I wish to bring an important issue to your immediate attention. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has issued a public notice on 19.12.2024 stating that the UGC–NET December 2024 Exam will be held from 03.01.2025 to 16.01.2025, including on 14.01.2025."
The Chief Minister said that the State Minister for Higher Education had already written to the Union Education Minister on December 23 seeking the postponement of the examination conducted by the NTA, which had never in the past been conducted during the Pongal holidays.
"January 14 is the day on which the most important festival of Tamil Nadu, Pongal is celebrated this year," he said, adding that the festival was a very important event in the State and was celebrated as the Harvest Festival by all sections of the Tamil community.
"Every year, this festival is celebrated for four days from 13th January to 16th January. These dates are well known to all in this State in advance and the entire Tamil community celebrates the four days’ Pongal festival with fervor," he said.
The State Government had already declared January 14 to 17 as Government holidays, he pointed out and explained that Pongal was not just a festival but a total embodiment of Tamil Culture and Traditional heritage that spans over 3000 years.
Similar to the Pongal festival, the Makar Sankranti festival was being celebrated in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States and if the proposed NET Exam is held during the Pongal Holidays as scheduled, it would put a large number of candidates into hardship, he said.
Stalin said he was given to understand that the Chartered Accountants foundation examination, January 2025 had already been rescheduled for the same reason and there was a real need to reschedule UGC NET and other examinations to appropriate dates to ensure that students and scholars of Tamil Nadu and other States where the Harvest Festival is celebrated can appear for the examinations.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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