NEET-UG 2021 row: From CBI arrests to Tamil Nadu's medical entrance bill - All that happened
NEET UG 2021: Various controversies surrounded this year's medical entrance test. Here's a brief timeline of what all has happened so far.
NEET-UG 2021: The National Entrance Eligibility Test (NEET) undergraduate (UG) exam has been surrounded by several controversies this year. From a Nagpur man being arrested in allegations of impersonation, to paper leak scam in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu introducing a bill to exempt medical entrance exam after a 19-year-old boy commited suicide, the national medical entrance test made it to news headlines often.
Let's have a look at all the controversies that hit the NEET UG 2021.
Impersonation scam
The CBI filed an FIR on September 12, stating that Parimal Kotpalliwar, director of R K Education Career Guidance was charged as the prime accused for providing proxy candidates to appear in entrance examina6tions. CBI has also named five accused for curating these unethical practices. Kotpalliwar was arrested once before in 2015 with the charges of his alleged involvement in the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT).
NEET UG 2021: CBI FIR
The FIR lodged by CBI in New Delhi reads, "Information further revealed that Shri Parimal Kotpalliwar solicits the aspiring candidates by offering them admission in top Govt. Medical Colleges by adopting fraudulent means and unfair practices."
The central agency stated that the accused party would call the parents of various aspirants and try to manipulate them with promises of admission to government colleges. In return, the accused would demand an incentive of as much as Rs 50 lakh..
They would also ask the parents to submit the candidates' class 10, 12 original mark sheet as security. CBI has also named five people in the FIR who used the services of proxy candidates to take the NEET UG 2021 exam.
NEET UG 2021: Paper leak
A college in Rajasthan RIET reported that the question paper was leaked and that it was being circulated through electronic media. Medical aspirants in protest submitted a detailed written representation to the National Testing Agency (NTA), demanding a re-examination and CBI investigation into the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) impersonation scam and paper leak. The aspirants also mentioned that they need more time to adapt to the changed paper pattern, introduced for the first time since 2016.
NEET UG 2021: Tamil Nadu bill
On the other hand, the Tamil Nadu government introduced a bill in the state assembly on September 13 seeking exemption from the NEET exam. The decision came after a 19-year-old boy, Dhanush from Koozhaiyur village near Mettur, who was set to appear for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, died of suicide.
The Tamil Nadu health minister had met Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi. "We also told him that 13 students had ended their lives after they were not able to qualify in the NEET exam and the minister promised us that he would look into our suggestions and that in his home state Odisha also, similar incidents had taken place," he had said.
NEET UG 2021: Maharashtra
Following Tamil Nadu's NEET bill, the President of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, Nana Patole also wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asking him to scrap the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for the state students as well.
Patole in his letter mentioned that like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra too should consider offering admissions to medical colleges based on class 12 scores. He highlighted lapses in the recently conducted NEET and said that it would be ‘injustice’ for students to consider their NEET score as the medical entrance is skewed towards those from central bards like CBSE, CISCE.
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