New Delhi/IBNS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke in favour of consensus in running the country on the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament beginning in the backdrop of the Opposition's resurgence in the Lok Sabha elections and the paper leak controversy.

Speaking to the media before entering Parliament, Modi said, "If the citizens of our country have trusted a government for the third consecutive time, it means they have given a stamp of approval to the policies and intent of the government.

"I am grateful to each of you for your support and trust. Majority is essential to run a government, but consensus is important to run a country."

The Prime Minister, who went to polls batting for Viksit Bharat or a Developed India, has reiterated the government's aim for 2047.

He said, "Sessions of parliament are an opportunity for us to realise the dreams of Indian citizens. It's an opportunity for us to build Shreshtha Bharat and achieve our goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047. 

"Elections to the world's largest democracy have recently concluded. It is a matter of immense pride how we have celebrated our democratic values, with the participation of 65 crore voters."

Monsoon session begins amid NET and NEET scandal

The monsoon session is beginning on Monday at a time the government is under fire over the paper leak scandal surrounding the UG-NET 2024 and NEET-UG 2024, the central entrance examinations for the recruitment of assistant professors in colleges and admissions to medical colleges respectively.

While the government transferred the investigation into the  NEET-UG exam leak to the CBI, the federal agency is also probing the UGC-NET exam, which was held on June 18 this year and cancelled two days later on June 20, citing that its "integrity was compromised". The CBI registered an FIR in the matter.

Even as the controversy over NEET threatens to reach a boiling point, the Ministry of Education has cancelled the UGC-NET exam, conducted by the National Testing Agency, just a day after it was held.

Over 9 lakh candidates appeared for the exam, which is held for Assistant Professor recruitments in universities and colleges as well as to determine eligibility for junior research fellowships.

In a statement, the Education Ministry said the June exam of the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) was conducted on Tuesday in OMR (pen and paper) mode in two shifts across the country.

"On 19th June, 2024, the University Grants Commission (UGC) received certain inputs from National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs on the Examination. These inputs prima facie indicate that the integrity of the aforesaid examination may have been compromised," it said.

The ministry said it was announcing the cancellation "to ensure the highest level of transparency and sanctity of the examination process".

There have been reports of the paper of the examination being leaked, but this was not confirmed by the ministry. It said only that the matter had been handed over to the CBI.

The UGC-NET is conducted twice every year, in June and December.

The National Testing Agency or NTA also faced flak after leaks of question papers have surfaced in the NEET and grace marks offered to over 1,500 students.

The grace marks were later cancelled and a re-examination of the concerned students was held on Sunday.