More than two dozen students, including members of Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India (NSUI), were detained while protesting against irregularities in NEET-UG and cancellation of UGC-NET exams at Jantar Mantar on Monday.

The student union had planned a march to the Parliament on the day of the commencement of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha. The students, holding placards and NSUI flags, gathered in large numbers at Jantar Mantar for their 'Chhatra Sansad Gherav'.

The protestors raised slogans against the NTA while holding placards with 'Ban NTA', 'We demand RENEET' and 'No more corrupt NTA' written over it. Ahead of the protest, police barricaded the area to prevent students from taking out their march. Heavy deployment of Delhi police including paramilitary forces was also made at the site.

According to visuals of the protest shared with media, some students tried to go past the barricades, while a few others climbed on the structure. "They were detained by the Delhi police and taken to different police stations, since no permission was granted for the march," an officer said.

"Until the NEET candidates get justice, NSUI will continue to struggle from the streets to the corridors of the House. Our demand is that NEET students should be given justice by conducting a re-examination, and corrupt institutions like NTA should be banned. NSUI National President Varun Choudhary along with NEET students and their families has given this message to Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan from Jantar Mantar that NSUI's struggle will continue until the students get justice," the student body said in a tweet on X (formerly Twitter). 

Amid a demand for the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for undergraduates (NEET-UG) exam held on May 5, the Union Education Ministry has said that the incidents of malpractices were "localised" or "isolated" and it was not fair to jeopardise the careers of lakhs of candidates who cleared the exam rightfully.

The CBI has filed an FIR in connection with the alleged irregularities under IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating), among others. The UGC-NET-2024 exam for the selection of junior research fellows, assistant professors and PhD scholars was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on June 18 in two shifts across the country.