MUMBAI: A section of students and their parents have expressed displeasure over some questions that appeared in the entrance test for the National Defence Academy (NDA). While one question was about derogatory remarks targeted towards Mahatma Gandhi, another question appeared to be testing the students’ knowledge of the ancient text Manusmriti.
The NDA entrance test is conducted by the Union Service Public Commission (UPSC) twice annually. On April 21, 7 lakh students appeared for the test that was conducted in over 40 cities across the country.
Question number 74 in Part A of the test booklet read ‘Which Viceroy had made the observation “It’s a beautiful world if it wasn't for Gandhi...”?’, while question 135 in the same booklet was ‘In the Manusmriti, which form of marriage results from the “Voluntary union of a maiden and her lover”?
“I could not understand the relevance of the questions asked in NDA’s entrance test. Are the students, aspiring to lead army troops, expected to study Manusmriti for the test,” asked a Pune-based communications expert, who asked for anonymity.
His son had appeared for the entrance test.
When contacted, the NDA authorities clarified that the entrance test is conducted by the UPSC and all related decisions, including syllabus, question papers and the conduct of the exam, are taken by the commission.