Today, as the members of Parliament met first time after the polls in the Lok Sabha, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan faced NEET slogans raised by Opposition MPs as he took the oath. Visuals from the House proceedings show Pradhan advancing towards the Lok Sabha podium amidst opposition chants of "NEET" and "shame".
This comes as protests have erupted across the country in response to significant irregularities revealed by the NEET UG exam results announced on June 4. The CBI assumed control of the investigation following widespread criticism directed at the National Testing Agency (NTA) and public outcry over the grading system used in the NEET-UG exam held in May.
In the wake of the nationwide controversy triggered by the NEET-UG 2024 results, the Education Ministry subsequently decided to cancel the NEET-PG 2024 and UGC-NET exams, intensifying criticism of centralised exams in India.
What is NEET UG result 2024 controversy?
The NEET-UG, formerly known as the All-India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT), is the annual entrance examination for undergraduate medical courses across all medical institutions in India.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) now administers the exam in thirteen languages, including English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Previously, this responsibility was held by the Central Board of School Education (CBSE).
On May 5, over 24 lakh students appeared for the NEET exam at 4,750 centers across 571 cities, including 14 international locations. The results, declared on June 4, sparked controversy, with candidates raising several issues. These included the awarding of grace marks to more than 1,500 students, an unusually high number achieving perfect scores, and allegations of a leaked question paper.
The results revealed that 67 students achieved a total score of 720, a significantly higher percentage compared to previous years. It has been alleged that six of the top scorers had taken the exam at the same centre in Haryana.
Many students and teachers have raised questions about how anyone can score 718 marks, stating that it is impossible. After 720, one can only score 716 marks and 718 marks is not possible, as each question carries 4 marks and one negative mark.
Many students and parents advocated for a re-test, as they filed multiple petitions in courts, which are currently under examination by the Supreme Court. Pradhan initiated an investigation and acknowledged that "some errors limited to specific regions" occurred. He emphasised that the futures of millions of aspirants should not be jeopardised due to "isolated incidents".
What did the NTA and the Supreme Court say?
The NTA issued a clarification that candidates who reported losing time during the exams have been given grace marks. The agency initially granted grace marks to 1,563 candidates because they lost exam time. It explained that it applied the normalisation formula approved by the Supreme Court during the 2018 CLAT, which faced a comparable issue. However, the NTA subsequently rescinded these grace marks.
The Centre informed the Supreme Court that a retest will be conducted for those awarded the grace marks, on June 23.
The Supreme Court has ruled against halting the admissions counselling process. For any of the 1,563 candidates who choose not to participate in the retest, their previous marks without grace marks will be considered for the results. The re-test results will be declared by June 30, and counselling for admission to MBBS, BDS, and other courses will begin on July 6, as announced by the Centre.
As per the NTA, only 813 candidates, that is 52 percent of those who were awarded the grace marks appeared for the NEET-UG re-examination. The three-and-a-half hour long exam was conducted across seven centres in the States of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Meghalaya, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
Several students who participated in the retest, commented that the new question paper was more challenging compared to the original one. Meanwhile, those who did not take the retest appear to have accepted the marks they were assigned.
What are the recent developments in the ongoing investigation?
The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police, which had been investigating the matter until the Centre ordered a probe by the CBI, has arrested 18 people in connection with the case, all of who will now be handed over to the CBI for questioning.
The evidence gathered by the EOU includes fragments of the burnt question paper found at a residence in Patna, mobile phones belonging to the arrested individuals, SIM cards, laptops, post-dated cheques, and reference question papers provided by the NTA.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the NTA barred 110 students from Bihar due to "malpractices" detected during the examination. Among them are 17 candidates who took exams in Bihar, 30 from Godhra in Gujarat, and 63 others from various locations. Additionally, individuals involved in handling the question papers, such as bank officials and courier company employees, are under investigation and being questioned.
A CBI team from Delhi reached the office of the EOU in Patna on Monday morning in this regard. The central agency on Sunday also filed an FIR in connection with the alleged irregularities in NEET-UG.
Meanwhile, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG 2024), which was scheduled to be held on June 23, was deferred as a “precautionary measure” and a new date would be announced later, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) announced on Saturday, a day ahead of the scheduled date for the 2024 edition of the postgraduate medical entrance examination.
“Taking into consideration, the recent incidents of allegations regarding the integrity of certain competitive examinations, Ministry of Health has decided to undertake a thorough assessment of the robustness of processes of NEET-PG Entrance Examination, conducted by National Board of Examination for medical students,” the Ministry said.
On the other hand, the NTA announced the cancellation of the UGC-NET (University Grants Commission - National Eligibility Test) exam last Wednesday, a day after it was conducted, saying the "integrity of the examination may have been compromised". This decision was taken on Wednesday night after the agency received inputs suggesting that the exam conducted on June 18 may have been compromised.
Later the Union Education Minister revealed that the decision to cancel UGC-NET was taken after it was found that the examination question paper was leaked on darknet. The exam date for both are yet to be announced.