NEET aspirants, parents approach Maharashtra Medical Education Minister seeking govt intervention

Mumbai: Amid the controversy surrounding cheating, paper leak and irregularities in NEET UG 2024 results, several medical aspirants and their parents from Maharashtra have written to Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif seeking state government intervention.

Demanding cancellation of the result, the aspirants and their parents have called the government to investigate the alleged allegations of question paper leaks, unusual scoring patterns and last-minute implementation of grace marks for lost time.

Addressing the Minister, the letter mentioned “There are many discrepancies in the NEET exam 2024 and the subsequent result, raising serious concerns. There was no provision for grace marks, yet such marks were given to some students. The unjust grace-mark policy has resulted in an increase of the All-India rankings by 50,000 to 60,000 without transparency. This has resulted in great loss for Maharashtra candidates. In Maharashtra too, it will be difficult to bag a seat in a government medical college."

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. 6 students who received full marks have seat numbers from the same sequence and are all from Haryana, suggesting the possibility that they are from the same examination centre.

Also read- NEET 2024 Result Row: Parents File Complaint Seeking Centre's Intervention, Demand Relief For Affected Students

Apart from seeking the government's intervention, parents of medical aspirants, associations of medical colleges and doctors have also demanded a halt to the medical admission process. Meanwhile, demands to conduct a CBI probe on the recently declared NEET result are also on the rise. 

Following this, the Maharashtra government has sought immediate cancellation of the last month's NEET exam, alleging that its results have caused injustice to the students from the state. Several aspirants of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test , conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, have earlier alleged that inflation of marks has led to a record 67 candidates bagging the top rank, including six from the same exam centre in Haryana. 

The results of the exam were declared on June 4. The National Testing Agency, however, denied any irregularities and said the changes made in the NCERT textbooks and grace marks for losing time at the examination centres are some of the reasons behind the students scoring higher marks.

Meanwhile, the National Testing Agency issued yet another clarification addressing queries for the candidates on the high cut-off, multiple toppers, the issue of grace marks, and other issues.

The agency, in charge of conducting the NEET UG exam, has 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.

Response from Minister Hasan Mushrif

Responding to the media on the issue as reported by PTI, Mushrif said "The NEET exams were probably conducted after taking money. The results are such that no student of Maharashtra will get admission for the MBBS course in government or private college in the state." He said parents of many students have approached him seeking to address the issue. 

"This has caused injustice to Maharashtra and it must be immediately cancelled. We are going to tell NMC about it," he said. Mushrif said the government was even contemplating approaching the court over the issue. 

Speaking to Indian Express, He said “We understand concerns raised by medical aspirants and their parents. No student from Maharashtra should be left out without admission because of the issues in the entrance test, which has multiple perfect scorers this year as opposed to only two candidates last year. We will forward parents’ representations to the National Testing Agency."

NEET-UG is the qualifying entrance exam for admission to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery , Bachelor of Dental Surgery , Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery , Bachelor of Siddha Medicine and Surgery , Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery , and Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery and BSc Nursing courses. There are more than 80,000 MBBS seats in over 540 medical colleges in the country. 

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday called for resolution of students' "legitimate complaints" through an investigation, "First the NEET exam paper was leaked and now the students allege that there has been a scam in its results as well. Serious questions are being raised on 6 students of the same centre getting 720 out of 720 marks and many kinds of irregularities are coming to the fore." There are reports of many children committing suicide across the country after the results were announced, Gandhi said and asked, "Why is the government ignoring the voice of lakhs of students? Students want answers to legitimate questions related to the rigging in the NEET exam results."

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin also opposed the NEET saying the entrance test goes against social justice and federalism. "Issues such as question paper leaks, clustering of toppers at specific centres, and award of marks which are mathematically impossible under the guise of grace marks highlight the pitfalls of the current union government's centralisation. These events emphasise the need to restore the pre-eminence of state governments' and school education system's role in determining criteria for professional course selection, he said." he said on X.

IMA demands CBI enquiry

Medical Dialogues team today reported that The medical fraternity has extended its support to the NEET aspirants as doctors have now written to the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the National Medical Commission (NMC) demanding proper investigations in the allegations of paper leak in the exam.

While All India Medical Students' Association (AIMSA) has demanded a fair investigation into the alleged irregularities in the MBBS entrance exam, Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors' Network (IMA-JDN) has called for a CBI inquiry into the matter.

Raising these issues, IMA JDN has now written to the Chairperson of NTA, the authority in charge of conducting the NEET UG exam, and the Chairman of the National Medical Commission (NMC), Dr. B.N. Gangadhar.

In the letter IMA JDN pointed out that some of the students in NEET UG 2024 scored 718 and 719 marks, terming it "statistically questionable". It should be mentioned in this regard that as per NEET marking scheme, every candidate is awarded 4 marks for every right answer and 1 mark is deducted for every wrong answer. Therefore, after the full marks i.e. 720, the candidates can only secure 716 marks if they leave one answer unattempted. Similarly, a candidate would get 715 marks if he/she gives one wrong answer.

Also read- NEET Results Row: Doctors Extend Support To Aspirants, Write To NTA, NMC Demanding Fresh Investigation