- By Ritesh Kumar
- Wed, 25 Dec 2024 10:37 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
UGC NET Exam December 2024: In light of the Pongal celebrations in Tamil Nadu from January 14 to 16, 2025, Higher Education Minister Govi Chezhiaan has appealed to the Centre to reschedule the UGC-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) scheduled for those dates.
In a letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Chezhiaan highlighted that the National Testing Agency (NTA), under the Ministry of Education, has scheduled the UGC-NET December 2024 session from January 3 to 16, 2025. However, Pongal, an important cultural festival, falls on January 14, followed by Thiruvalluvar Day (Mattu Pongal) on January 15 and Farmers’ Day (Uzhavar Thirunal—Kanum Pongal) on January 16.
The Minister emphasised that Pongal is not just a festival but a "symbol of Tamil Nadu’s culture and traditional heritage spanning over 3,000 years." He further noted that the Tamil Nadu government has already declared January 14 to 16, 2025, as official holidays for the Pongal festivities.
"If the NET exam is held during the Pongal holidays, it will hamper the preparations for the exam in view of the celebrations," he said. Further, Cheziaan said, "I therefore request your kind intervention to reschedule the UGC-NET examinations and other examinations to appropriate dates thereby ensuring that students and scholars of Tamil Nadu and other states where the harvest festival is celebrated can appear for the examinations."
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The Minister highlighted that the Chartered Accountants Foundation Examination for January 2025 has already been rescheduled in view of the Pongal festival, following a request by S Venkatesan, a Lok Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu.
