Protest Against NEET 2024 Results Intensifies, Students Raise Slogans Against NTA
New Delhi: Intensifying the protests against the alleged irregularities in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate- NEET 2024 exam results, the aspirants in Kanpur were seen recently raising slogans against the National Testing Agency (NTA), the agency in charge of conducting the MBBS entrance test. Moreover in Kakadev, Kanpur, hundreds of medical aspirants were seen rallying on the streets. Aspirants were gathering in front of coaching institutes expressing their demands for Re-NEET and CBI probe into the matter.
Videos of medical aspirants from the streets of the city while raising slogans of "We want justice", "NTA teri tanasahi nahin chalegi (NTA, your dictatorship will not last)", and "NTA chor hai" have been circulating on social media platforms.
Sharing the videos of medical aspirants protesting in Kanpur, the X (formerly Twitter) handle of 'Indian Doctor' wrote, "Aggressive Physical protest in #Kanpur by #NEET aspirants against Mass level of Paper leak in #NEET Now Students are coming on Road."
"Kanpur #NEET Aspirants on FIRE Biggest Physical Protest against @NTA_Exams by Neet aspirants in Kakadev of Kanpur !! ★ Demands ;#RENEET & strict CBI investigations," another X post by Indian Doctor stated.
Further, addressing the issue and sharing a video of the protesting students, activist Dr. Vivek Pandey wrote on X, "Re-NEET is only solution of this corruption. Every hardworking students of India deserves fair opportunities."
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that NEET UG 2024 results shocked many as 67 candidates got the All India Rank 1 in the examination. Concerns were raised about other issues such as students securing 718 or 719 marks (which seems impossible because of the marking scheme), and several students from the same centre securing 720 marks in the exam.
NEET Paper Leak Scam:
This year, the exam was mired in controversies after a paper leak scam was revealed in Bihar. Around 13 people, including four examinees and their family members were arrested in Bihar for their alleged involvement in the paper leak of NEET UG exam. Patna police sources had previously claimed that the NEET UG question papers along with their answers were provided to around 20 aspirants a day before the date of the exam i.e. May 5, 2024.
Then, the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police, which took over the investigation, revealed that the brokers involved in the NEET paper leak scam took between Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh from each of the medical aspirants in exchange of giving them the question paper of the NEET UG 2024 question paper ahead of the examination.
Plea in HC and Supreme Court:
Addressing the issues, PILs were filed before the Supreme Court and the Patna High Court, seeking a fresh exam and a CBI probe into the issue. In the recent plea filed before the Supreme Court, the candidates raised the issue of paper leak and the sanctity of the test while seeking a direction for conducting a fresh examination.
It has been alleged in the plea that the NEET-UG test held on May 5 was riddled with malpractices as various instances of paper leaks came to the knowledge of the petitioners. The alleged paper leak of NEET was violative of Article 14 (right to equality) under the Constitution as it gave an undue advantage to some candidates over others who chose to attempt the examination in a fair manner.
Commenting on the matter, the lawyer in the case filed before the Supreme Court, Advocate Mathews Nedumpara informed Medical Dialogues that the case is now being processed at the Registry and it is likely to be taken up for consideration at the earliest. Referring to NEET counselling, he informed that the immediate prayer in the plea is a stay on the counselling process.
He addressed the high cut-off in the NEET UG 2024 exam and said, "Why this has happened? This is because many students were given grace marks. What is the basis for giving grace marks?"
Further addressing the allegations of paper leak scam, "The sanctity of the examination process is in doubt. We are collecting more information on the matter. It is a matter of great concern. It involves the lives and aspirations of thousands of righteous students."
Clarification from NTA:
Moreover, amid the social media uproar, NTA has twice issued clarifications on the matter. Soon after publishing the scorecard, NTA addressed the issue of candidates scoring 718 or 719 in the exam and informed that several candidates were awarded grace marks to compensate for their loss of time.
"NTA received few representations and Court Cases from the candidates of NEET (UG) 2024 raising concerns of loss of time during the conduct of the examination on 05.05.2024. Such cases/representations were considered by NTA and the normalisation formula, which has been devised and adopted by the Hon'ble Apex Court, vide its Judgment dated 13.06.2018, was implemented to address the loss of time faced by the candidates of NEET (UG) 2024.The loss of examination time was ascertained and such candidates were compensated with grace marks. So, candidate's marks can be 718 or 719 also," NTA had mentioned.
However, NTA's clarification could not address the doubts of the aspirants as they sought further details, asking how many candidates were given grace marks, which rules were applied to award grace marks etc. In fact, recently activist Dr. Vivek Pandey filed an RTI application before NTA seeking these details.
Yesterday i.e. on June 04, 2024, NTA issued another clarification and informed that 1563 candidates were compensated for the loss of time and the revised marks of such candidates vary from -20 to 720 marks. It further informed that out 67 candidates who received 720/720 marks, 44 were on account of the revision in one Answer Key of Physics, and 06 were on account of compensatory marks for loss of time.
Several people including doctors were also questioning why NTA declared the NEET-UG (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate) results on the date of Lok Sabha Election results i.e. on June 04, 2024, and not on June 14, as was planned earlier. NTA has also addressed this issue and the allegations of unfair means in the NEET UG 2024 examination.
Addressing the allegations of unfair means being used in the exam, NTA informed, "Action taken in UFM cases are in accordance with existing rules, including the cancellation of candidature and debarment from future examinations of NTA. NTA has registered cases against impersonators and some cases have been registered by the State Police. NTA has been extending support, wherever required, to the agencies in investigating cases pertaining to NEET (UG) 2024."
"While the outcome of the investigation in aforesaid cases is awaited, NTA has categorically denied any case of paper leak. NTA also issued a detailed Press Release on 06 May 2024 stating that there has not been any paper leak as was being circulated on social media. The same stand has been reiterated and NTA maintains that the integrity of the examination was not compromised," it added.
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