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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

TET postponed after paper leak, three held

Mumbai: In another shocker, the Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) question paper has ‘leaked’ - barely 24 hours before the scheduled examination on Sunday - jeopardising the future of thousands aspiring to join the noble profession of teaching, officials said here. Reacting quickly, the Maharashtra State Council of Examination cancelled Sunday’s paper scheduled to be held simultaneously at 1,028 centres across the state and said that the new date will be announced early next week. As...

TET postponed after paper leak, three held

Mumbai: In another shocker, the Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) question paper has ‘leaked’ - barely 24 hours before the scheduled examination on Sunday - jeopardising the future of thousands aspiring to join the noble profession of teaching, officials said here. Reacting quickly, the Maharashtra State Council of Examination cancelled Sunday’s paper scheduled to be held simultaneously at 1,028 centres across the state and said that the new date will be announced early next week. As many as six lakh candidates were scheduled to appear for the examination across 1,728 centres at 37 locations, officials said. The paper leak was detected and verified swiftly by Bhiwandi Police in Thane district which has arrested three alleged suspected, two from Bihar and one from Haryana, who were planning to hawk it for a staggering sum of Rs. 1.50 crore, suggesting the involvement of an inter-state gang behind the incident. Giving details, the Bhiwandi Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Dudhe said that the question paper was allegedly being ‘sold’ for a staggering Rs 1.50 crore, indicating a well-organised racket transcending the state border. He said that early on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP-II) Dr. Pawan Bansod received a confidential tip-off and he immediately alerted senior officials who launched a discreet operation to track and apprehend the culprits. “An informant tipped us that the accused were travelling from New Delhi to Mumbai carrying copies of the TET question papers. After verification, we laid a trap and arrested the three suspects in Bhiwandi. However, the kingpin/s behind the racket remain absconding,” Dudhe said. Police said that the papers were to be sold for Rs 1.50 crore for which advance was reportedly collected from some persons. The arrested accused are: Rajiv Shah, 45 and Akash Kumar, 30, both of Patna in Bihar and Dheeraj Kumar, 28, of Panipat in Haryana. Four Sets Official sources said that the police sleuths accosted the suspected trio in a local hotel room where they were staying, questioned and searched them. They recovered four sets of purported copies of the crucial TET paper from them. Upon sustained questioning they admitted that these were the copies of the TET examination question paper of June 28. Experts from the MSCE were immediately summoned to confirm the documents recovered and the officials confirmed that many of the questions apparently were similar to those in the official TET exam paper of Sunday. Armed with the information, the Kongaon Police Station in Bhiwandi initially detained the trio, filed a case and then placed them under arrest. They are slapped with charges under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita Sections 318(4), 316(5) and 61(2), besides stringent sections of the Maharashtra Examination Act, 2024, said Senior Police Inspector (HQ) Shailesh Salvi. As news of the paper leak spread like wildfire, thousands of candidates vent their ire before the mediapersons and on social media, demanding an overhaul of the public examinations monitoring systems and stringent punishment to the accused. SIT Formed The Thane Police have formed a 9-member SIT comprising Dr. Bansod, Sachin Sangle, Dr. Vinay Marathe and other officers, to investigate the source of the leak, identify the masterminds, and determine whether the network was linked with similar examination scams across the country. The TET paper leak comes days after the nationwide furore over the NEET 2026 exam paper leak with questions raised on the country’s public examinations system amid claims and assurances of tight security and monitoring. Congress, CJP flay govt Maharashtra Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal and Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke pounced on the state government, accusing it of failing to safeguard the future of thousands of deserving candidates. They demanded a thorough probe and stringent action against everyone involved, lamenting how a series of examination scandals have damaged the credibility of the state’s education and public exams systems. “The government is not bothered. They are busy with breaking political parties. The so-called double-engine regime is to be blamed for the ‘double-leaks’ in such a short time. The education minister must resign,” demanded Dipke. The examination system has come under a cloud with several entrance and recruitment exams, including the NEET, UGC-NET, the Maharashtra TET and others cancelled or being probed in the past three years, triggering huge public outrage and raising question marks on the careers of lakhs of candidates.

Sugar price to play a role in most of Western Maharashtra

Delay in Minimum Support Price by Central Government poses risks for sugar industry; political fallout anticipated


Kolhapur: With the onset of November 1, the sugar season commences across India, triggering the perennial battle over sugarcane prices and creating a tense atmosphere during Diwali. In recent years, the central government has tied the sugar industry to ethanol economics, which had temporarily alleviated disputes over sugarcane prices by bolstering sugar exports. However, the ongoing delay in announcing an increase in the minimum support price (MSP) for sugar has escalated tensions between sugar factory owners and farmers.


If the government fails to act promptly, this conflict is expected to intensify, with significant implications for the upcoming assembly elections in western Maharashtra region, the heart of the sugar industry.

The politics in western Maharashtra is directly linked to the sugar industry. The suage barons in the districts of Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur, Satara, Pune and Ahmednagar are the dominant politicians at the local level.


To address instability in the sugar sector, the Modi government has implemented several initiatives, including support for ethanol production and low-interest seed capital. While these measures have been beneficial, the critical issue remains the minimum support price for sugar. The MSP is essential for ensuring stability in the sugar market. Currently, the MSP for sugarcane is set, but there is no corresponding protection for sugar prices, leading to a distorted economic landscape. In 2019, the government established a minimum support price of 3,100 per quintal for sugar, enforcing restrictions on sales below this threshold. While this was welcomed by the industry, there has been no increase in the MSP in the past six years. Meanwhile, the fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane has seen annual hikes, further destabilising the industry.


As the new sugar season approaches, farmers’ organisations are gearing up for negotiations. The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, led by former MP Raju Shetti, is set to hold its annual sugarcane conference to outline demands. This year, farmers are seeking ₹3,750 per ton for sugarcane. Despite a surge in sugar exports and ethanol production over the last four years, last year’s restrictions on exports and ethanol output have dampened prospects, increasing the urgency for a rise in the MSP for sugar.

While the central government has tentatively acknowledged these demands, discussions between representatives of sugar factory owners and government officials have yet to yield concrete decisions.

The Western India Sugarcane Growers Association (WISMA) has expressed its inability to commence the season amidst this indecision. This delay threatens the economic viability of the sugar industry and could further inflame tensions between factory owners and farmers, with serious political ramifications on the horizon.

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