NEET-UG 2024 row: The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) undergraduate or NEET UG 2024 for over 24 lakh candidates across 4,750 centres on May 5. Although, the results for the same were expected to be announced on June 14, but declared ten days prior before the schedule on June 4. The NEET UG 2024 results drew immediate attention due to an unusually high number of candidates achieving a perfect score of 720/720 amid allegations of paper leak and improper awarding of grace marks. As many as 67 students have been awarded the perfect score. Six of these candidates who secured the top rank wrote the exam from the same center in Haryana. After that, NEET results have sparked controversy.
Compared to the previous years, only two or three candidates were able to achieve full marks in the medical entrance exam. This was the first time in history that so many candidates achieved 100 per cent marks.
In 2023, only two medical aspirants were able to achieve full marks in the exam, whereas a year before that in 2022, nobody had a perfect score. Moreover, some students were awarded 718 or 719 marks. As per the critics, this is impossible due to the NEET marking scheme because there are four marks for a correct answer and one mark for a wrong answer. If a question is not attempted by the candidate, then no mark will be rewarded for it.
NTA's response on paper leak claims, awarding grace marks
The NTA responded on the matter stating that they had applied a normalisation formula to account for the time lost during the exam, resulting in some candidates having received 718 or 719 scores in the exam. On the allegations of the NEET paper leak, the NTA clarified and claimed them to be completely baseless without any ground. It also added that only one incident happened in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur where some students forcibly took away the question papers before the exams ended and a picture of this exam is being linked to the alleged incident of paper leak. The exam body termed it mischievous and preposterous.
On June 8, the NTA announced that the education ministry has set up a four-member panel to review the grace marks of over 1,500 aspirants who were awarded grace marks to compensate for the loss of time suffered while appearing for the NEET UG 2024. As per the officials, the adjustments were made to address the inconsistencies in NCERT textbooks, resulting in 44 candidates achieving full marks and others seeing an increase in their scores. Despite the medical exam becoming a political issue, the officials maintain that the majority of the claims are an attempt to create a false narrative surrounding the exam.
Why is this matter in Superme Court?
This matter reached to the Supreme Court after receiving three petitions seeking to cancel the NEET UG 2024 exam due to irregularities in the result process. Among three petitions, one was filed by the Physics Wallah CEO-Alakh Pandy, who claimed that the testing agency's decision to award grace marks was 'arbitrary'. The second petition was filed by SIO members Abdullah Mohammad Faiz and Dr Shaik Roshan Mohiddin, seeking recall of the medical results and conduct of a fresh exam. The third petition was filed by NEET candidate Jaripiti Kartheek, who challenged the award of grace marks as compensation for alleged loss of time during the exam. In the hearing held on June 13, the court has disposed of the petition in which grace marking was discussed. The Supreme Court sought a reply to the other petitions within two weeks.
NTA to conduct re-test for 1,563 candidates
In a Supreme Court hearing on June 13, the NTA proposed a re-exam of the 1,563 students who were awarded grace marks due to loss of time at the exam centres to ensure fairness and integrity in the exam result process. As per the information received, the re-exam of 1,563 candidates will be conducted on June 23 and the result will be declared before June 30 and counselling will take place on July 6. On June 12, the NTA released answers to FAQs regarding NEET 2024 result controversy, especially on areas of multiple toppers, grace marks, paper leak, and more.
What is NEET Exam?
The full form of NEET is the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). It is a single medical entrance exam for admission to undergraduate medical and paramedical courses offered in India. The exam is conducted once a year in online or offline mode in thirteen languages. Every year, lakh of candidates appear in this medical exam for admission to MBBS, BDS, BSc Nursing, BAMS, Veterinary, and other medical/paramedical courses in India.
