Amid Shocking Pass Percentages, 'Decoding Error' by NBE Changes Pass/Fail Status of Candidates

Answer Sheets of at least 48 students had been mixed up in one of the four exams conducted in March 21 and the NBE, in charge of conducting the exam, has allegedly termed it as a "decoding error", as per a recent report by TOI.

The issue came to light when one of the candidates who had failed in the exam results declared on July 30, 2021, filed a request for a photocopy of his answer sheet in August 2021 and two months later, when he got back his answer sheets, he discovered that copy of the answer sheet of paper IV belonged to another candidate.

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As per the latest media report by the Times of India, NBE finally admitted the mix up after much delay and back and forth correspondence. In fact, the doctor got to know that the mix up had happened for 47 other candidates as well and ultimately on November 24, NBE declared revised results.

The daily adds that even though several other doctors now want photocopies of their answer sheets, the one month time frame for applying after declaration of results has passed long before NBE accepted the mix-up.

Ultimately, seeking help under the Right to Information Act, several doctors have sought copies of their answer sheets and they have also challenged NBE's refusal for providing copies of answer sheets before the Chief Information Commissioner.

Meanwhile, responding to a query by TOI, NBE has stated that the examination committee of NBE had set up a subcommittee of three officers who were not part of the result section for reviewing the entire decoding and tabulation work.

Candidates in their RTI queries had asked the natboard if any enquiry was conducted regarding the issue. Answering No, NBE in a statement mentioned, "The committee discovered that except in paper IV of orthopaedics, the evaluated marks were correctly shown in all other cases. In paper IV of orthopaedics there were 48 decoding errors of transcription of the evaluated marks. This was the result of a clerical error which unfortunately was not detected prior to the declaration of the result."

Further, NBE has also informed that measures have been implemented for ensuring that such mistakes do not get repeated in future.

The doctor, who got photocopy of the answer sheet, got his marks revised to 189 from 177. However, still short of 3 marks to pass, he has not approached the Delhi High Court claiming that there was a wrong question in the fourth paper worth five marks. Responding to the plea, the counsel for NBE has submitted before the HC that the students had been given two marks for the wrong question. 

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the result summary of DNB/DrNB final theory exam had shocked the medical fraternity as it had been revealed that less than 20 per cent of aspirants had cleared the exam in specialities including Nephrology, and Orthopaedics.

The pass percentage in specialities such as Hospital Administration, Otorhinolaryngology, Paediatrics, Pathology, Surgical Oncology, and Emergency Medicine is also not so good as less than 40 percent of the total candidates had cleared the exam last year.

Also Read: Abysmal pass percentages haunt DNB doctors