NEET 2024 Conduct Row: Congress to hold nationwide protest on June 21st
New Delhi: This Friday, on June 21st, the Congress will hold protests in all state headquarters over the alleged irregularities in MBBS entrance exam NEET.
According to PTI report, in a letter to all state unit chiefs, Congress legislature party leaders, state incharges, general secretaries and other top functionaries, Congress general secretary, in-charge organisation, K C Venugopal, said there is an urgent need to address the numerous complaints and concerns surrounding the NEET-UG 2024 conduct and results.
"As you are aware, the National Testing Agency (NTA) released the results of NEET-UG 2024 on 4th June 2024. The results have been marred by allegations of irregularities and paper leaks following the inflated marks of some aspirants," he said.
Also Read:NEET 2024 Controversy: Over 4000 Students stage protest in Hyderabad Demanding Re-NEET
Venugopal said there are significant concerns over inflated marks and irregularities, and awarding grace marks without disclosing the methodology further raises doubts.
"The examination has been plagued by technical glitches, malpractice and unfair means in certain test centres. Organised corruption is evident from arrests made in Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana," he said.
The Supreme Court has also highlighted the seriousness of these allegations, demanding zero tolerance for negligence, Venugopal noted.
"Such irregularities undermine the credibility of the examination process and jeopardise the future of countless dedicated students. The Congress party had promised to secure the future of the youth by enforcing strict laws against paper leaks in our manifesto," he said, quotes PTI
Against this massive corruption and irregularities in the NEET examination and the desperate inaction and silence of the NDA government, all Pradesh Congress Committees are requested to hold "massive protests" in state headquarters on Friday, June 21, 2024, demanding justice for the students, Venugopal said in his letter dated June 18.
"This demonstration should involve senior leaders and party functionaries," he added.
This year's NEET UG 2024 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 the 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.
Also Read: NEET Candidates paid up to Rs 50 lakhs for getting Question Papers in Advance: Bihar EOU
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 for giving them the question paper of the NEET UG 2024 question paper ahead of the examination.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the allegations of NEET paper leak reached the peak when 67 candidates secured All India Rank 1 in the NEET UG 2024 exam. Questions were raised about the candidates scoring 718 or 719 marks out of 720 marks as well (which is impossible considering the NEET marking scheme).
When NTA tried to defend the results saying that several candidates were issued grace marks to compensate for the loss of time during the exam, further questions were raised. Pleas were also filed against NTA before the Supreme Court challenging the policy of granting grace marks.
Amid the uproar, the Union Government's counsel recently informed the Supreme Court that the committee set up in this regard recommended withdrawing the grace marks of 1563 candidates and informing them of their original scores, obtained without the grace marks. NTA has decided that these 1563 candidates would be given a choice of retaining their original scores (without grace marks) or appear in a retest, which will be held on 23rd June. The results of the retest will be published before 30th June, 2024 so that the NEET UG 2024 counselling could start from 6th July, 2024.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said even if there was "0.001 per cent negligence" on the part of anyone in the conduct of the NEET-UG 2024 examination, it should be thoroughly dealt with.
Observing that students have to labour hard while preparing for these examinations, the apex court said the litigation pertaining to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024 examination ought not be treated as adversarial.
Also Read:NEET Controversy: AAP leaders protest at Jantar Mantar
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