Higher Education Minister Govi Chezhiaan has appealed to the Centre to reschedule the UGC-NET December 2024 exam, currently set for January 3 to 16, 2025, as it coincides with Tamil Nadu’s major harvest festival, Pongal, which runs from January 14 to 16. Highlighting the cultural importance of the festival, Chezhiaan emphasized that it would interfere with exam preparations. The Minister requested the Union Education Ministry to consider rescheduling the exam to ensure students can participate without conflict.