The Indian Government ordered a countrywide restriction on the social media platform Telegram for more than a week, allegedly to prevent leaks and fraud during the upcoming national medical college entrance exam, official sources stated today.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) indicated that the directive, issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, aims to stop “organized groups” from scamming students and extorting large sums of money by offering fake exam papers under the guise of official materials.
This decision follows weeks of intense national outrage against the government, with opposition parties and student unions accusing authorities of failing to ensure transparency in national examinations. While Telegram remained operational across the country until at least 12:30 PM local time (8:00 AM in Lisbon), it remains unclear how the government intends to technically implement the new blockade.
The sweeping intervention consists of several directives that will completely block access to the messaging app nationwide until June 21—the day after the exam—and continue to restrict certain features until June 30.
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The crisis within the education and youth sectors initially erupted in May when the central government was forced to cancel the original National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), which had already seen the participation of over two million candidates. The cancellation came after confirmation emerged that legitimate answer keys were being sold for approximately 10,000 dollars (around 8,600 euros).
The country’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claims to have uncovered up to 180,000 dollars in fraudulent transactions and is currently conducting a criminal investigation to protect the integrity of one of India’s most critical academic examinations.
