NEET 2024 results analysis by IIT Madras shows no indication of mass malpractice: Centre tells SC

New Delhi: In an additional affidavit before the Supreme Court, the Centre informed the bench that the analysis conducted by the IIT Madras has ruled out any abnormality as it shows no indication of mass malpractice.

According to a recent PTI report, the Centre told the Supreme Court there was neither any indication of ''mass malpractice'' nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted leading to abnormal scores in NEET-UG 2024. It said the data analytics of results of NEET-UG 2024 was conducted by IIT Madras and as per the findings given by the experts, the marks distribution follows the bell-shaped curve that is witnessed in any large-scale examination indicating no abnormality.

In the additional affidavit, the Centre said for 2024-25, the counselling process for undergraduate seats will be conducted in four rounds starting from the third week of July.

“This analysis indicates that the distribution of marks is quite normal and there seems to be no extraneous factor, which would influence the distribution of marks,” the NTA said in its affidavit, which also gave details about the system in place for ensuring confidential printing of question papers, its transportation and distribution.

In its additional affidavit filed on Wednesday, the Centre said pursuant to the apex court’s direction, the Ministry of Education had made a request to the Director of IIT Madras to undertake comprehensive data analytics of the result of candidates who appeared in NEET-UG 2024.

“It is submitted that pursuant thereto an exhaustive and elaborate technical evaluation of the data pertaining to the NEET-UG 2024 examination was carried out by IIT Madras, using the parameters like marks distribution, city-wise and centre-wise rank distribution and candidates spread over marks-range, and the following findings have been given by the experts of the IIT Madras…,” it said.

The affidavit said as per findings given by IIT Madras, the marks distribution follows the bell-shaped curve that is witnessed in any large-scale examination indicating no abnormality. “The analysis shows that there is neither any indication of mass malpractice nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted leading to abnormal scores,” it said, while quoting the findings given by the experts of IIT Madras.

The affidavit said as per findings given by the experts of IIT Madras, there is an overall increase in the marks obtained by the students, specifically in the range of 550 to 720.

“This increase is seen across the cities and centres. This is attributed to 25 per cent reduction in syllabus. In addition, candidates obtaining such high marks are spread across multiple cities and multiple centers, indicating very less likelihood of malpractice,” it said. Regarding counselling, the Centre said for 2024-25, the counselling process will be conducted in four rounds starting from the third week of July.

“For any candidate, if it is found that he/she has been the beneficiary of any malpractice, candidature of such person would be cancelled at any stage during the counselling process or even afterwards,” it said.

The Centre said in respect of steps which are required to be taken in future to ensure that exam process is made more robust and insulant to any kind of malpractice, it has established a high-level committee of experts to recommend effective measures for the conduct of transparent, smooth and fair examinations by the NTA.

NEET Controversy:

Earlier, while considering the NEET-related pleas, the Supreme Court had refused to defer the counselling/seat allotment process scheduled to commence on July 6. However, the bench had orally observed that the admissions would be subject to the final outcome of the petitions and if the exams were set aside, the counselling would get invalidated consequentially.

The Top Court had also expressed its concern over the alleged discrepancies in the NEET UG 2024 exam. The Court had noted that even '0.001& negligence' in conducting the NEET-UG 2024 exams would be looked into with all seriousness considering the immense labor put in by the candidates for the prestigious examination.