635 score but no govt seat: Kerala student writes to PM Modi over alleged irregularities in NEET 2024, seeks compensation

Thrissur: A Kerala medical aspirant who appeared for NEET UG for five consecutive years has approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an independent investigation into the alleged irregularities in the NEET UG 2024 examination.

The aspirant has emailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an independent probe into alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 examination and compensation and fee concessions for students who were financially affected by the controversy.

In her email to the Prime Minister, the aspirant said she appeared for NEET-UG every year from 2020 to 2024. She claimed that she had received opportunities to join self-financing medical colleges in 2022 and 2023 but decided not to take admission as she was hoping to secure a seat in a government medical college.

She scored 640 marks in NEET-UG 2024, which was later revised to 635 following corrections, she said. Despite expecting admission to a government medical college based on her score, she could not secure a seat amid the high cut-off in 2024.

As part of her representation, she has submitted a comparison of marks and ranks from previous NEET-UG examinations with the 2024 results, arguing that there was a significant difference in the ranking pattern that needs to be examined.

She is currently pursuing medical studies at a self-financing college, where her family spends around Rs 10 lakh annually towards fees. According to the student, her parents have been taking loans and borrowing money from others to meet her educational expenses.

Speaking to ANI, she said, "I worked hard for five years hoping to get a government medical seat. I had declined opportunities at self-financing colleges earlier because I did not want to put a financial burden on my family. Now, studying at a self-financing college, we have to pay around Rs 10 lakh every year. Seeing the financial difficulties faced by my parents made me raise this demand for a solution."

Apart from an independent probe, she has demanded compensation for students who were directly affected by any irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 examination. She has emailed her demands to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

"When the NEET 2024 results are compared with those of previous years in terms of the marks-rank ratio, there is a significant difference. If any irregularity has taken place, those responsible should be identified. There are many students like me who have been directly affected. I want them to receive compensation as well," she said.

National Eligibility-and-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 Examination was mired in controversies after the allegations of paper leak came into light. 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.

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.

The alleged NEET-UG 2024 question paper leak is not a systemic failure but consists of individual instances of malpractice, according to sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Claims of a compromised examination system were deemed part of a conspiracy. The CBI's investigation revealed that the leak's extent was limited and did not involve an organized gang. Instead, individual impersonation cases were identified, and some promises of leaked papers went unfulfilled. Instances of invigilators aiding students were restricted and caught promptly.

The concerns surrounding the security of NEET have resurfaced with the alleged paper leak in NEET-UG 2026. The NEET UG 2026 exam was conducted on May 3 by the National Testing Agency and was held from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM in pen-and-paper mode. Over 22.7 lakh aspirants appeared for the examination this year. It took place across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad, covering over 5,400 centres.

However, on May 12, 2026, the NTA declared the examination held on May 3 cancelled due to paper leak controversy and subsequently announced a re-examination on June 21, 2026. The results for the national medical entrance re-examination were announced on July 16, with 11.21 lakh candidates qualifying the test.

This came in the backdrop of the probe by the Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group, which reportedly found a “guess paper” containing more than 100 questions similar to those asked in the NEET UG examination. The question paper series under scrutiny has been described as a “guess paper” which reportedly contained around 410 questions. Out of these, nearly 120 questions are alleged to have appeared in the Biology and Chemistry sections of the examination.

In the aftermath of the exam cancellation, protests were held, with aspirants and members of the medical fraternity condemning NTA and the Education Ministry for the failure.

Due to the alleged controversy, the central government decided to refer the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation for a comprehensive inquiry into the allegations. Based on the Centre's direction, the CBI registered an FIR in the case and so far arrested 13 people.

Also read- NEET 2026 paper leak: How CBI followed the digital trail from students to NTA subject experts