Social media posts claiming NEET 2024 Paper Leak 'Completely Baseless': NTA issues clarification

New Delhi- The National Testing Agency (NTA), through a notice, refuted the claims of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2024 exam question paper leak circulating on social media, saying that “It has been ascertained from NTA's security protocols and Standard Operating Procedures that the Social Media Posts pointing towards any paper leak are completely baseless and without any ground”.

These rumours stem from an incident in Rajasthan where the NEET UG 2024 exam question paper was wrongly distributed by the centre superintendent at a centre in Rajasthan – Girls Higher Secondary Adarsh ​​Vidya Mandir, Mantown, Sawai Madhopur.

While addressing the incident, NTA stated that “there was one incident at a Centre in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan where some students forcibly took away the QPs before the conclusion of the examination. A picture of this QP is being linked to alleged incident of the paper leak which is mischievous and preposterous. There is no way any external person/agency can access the centres, once the examination started”.

However, every single QP has been “accounted for”, hence the NTA said that “All the photographs of QPs circulating in Social Media have no relation to the Actual Examination Question Paper which has been administered”.

Further, NTA also assured that “after the gates of the Examination Centres are closed, no one from outside is permitted access inside the Halls which are under CCTV surveillance”.

However, there have been cases of malpractice and impersonation, the NTA has taken strict action against the impersonators/candidates. With this, to detect cases of Unfair Means(UFM) “NTA also conducts post-exam data analysis. Action on UFM cases is taken as per extant rules, which includes cancellation of candidature and debarment from future examinations”, the notice added.

The NEET UG 2024 saw record-high registrations this year, with over 24 lakh students registering, the highest ever, with over 10 lakh male students, and over 13 lakh female students. This increase was facilitated by opting for several smaller cities as centres, especially in the Northeast, apart from Puducherry, Jammu and Kashmir, and other states.

Despite some such challenges, NTA successfully conducted the NEET UG 2024 examination Sunday i.e. on May 5, 2024, at various centres located in 557 cities across the country, including 14 cities outside India, with the help of a dedicated team of more than 600 Center Coordinators at city levels, 5,000 plus Center Superintendents and their staff pan India, with over 4,800 schools roped in for the process.

The NTA urges the candidates, their parents, teachers and all concerned to pay heed to such rumours and concentrate on forthcoming examinations.

To view the notice, click the link below