Tamil Nadu CM urges state governments to unite against discrepancies in NEET 2024
New Delhi: Amidst controversies over the conduct and the declaration of the results of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET 2024) this year, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has urged all the state governments to come forward to stop these discrepancies and 'raise their voices against injustice.'
While criticising the conduct of entrance exams, he reiterated that NEET and other entrance examinations are anti-poor. They undermine federal polity and impact the availability of doctors in deserving areas.
In a post to X, MK Stalin wrote, "Trends emerging from the latest #NEET results have once again vindicated our principled opposition to the exam. 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."
Also Read:Alleged Irregularities in NEET 2024 results: Calcutta HC seeks response from NTA
"These events emphasise the need to restore the preeminence State governments' and school education system's role in determining criteria for professional course selection. We reiterate that NEET and other entrance examinations are anti-poor, they undermine federal polity, impact the availability of doctors in deserving areas and are against social justice.
"Let's join hands to eradicate this malady. That day is not far!"
Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also slammed the Modi government over the alleged irregularities and discrepancies in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam, on Friday, adds ANI.
This criticism came after the buzz of controversies came into light regarding the conduct and the declaration of the results of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), In recent NEET result declaration, 67 students bagged the top rank, including six from the same exam centre.
She further demanded the government to investigate the matter properly by resolving students 'legitimate complaints'.
She also raised the issue of students' suicide and dissatisfaction due to the NEET results.
In a post to X (formerly Twitter), Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wrote, "Initially, the NEET exam paper was leaked and now students are alleging that there has been a scam in its results as well. Serious questions are being raised over six students from the same centre getting 720 out of 720 marks and many kinds of irregularities are coming to light. On the other hand, there are reports of many children committing suicide across the country after the results were announced. This is very sad and shocking."
"Why is the government ignoring the voice of lakhs of students? Students want answers of the questions related to the rigging in the NEET exam results. Isn't it the government's responsibility to investigate and resolve these complaints?
However, the National Testing Agency (NTA) denied any irregularities and attributed record results to several factors, including an easier exam, a surge in registrations, a question with two correct answers, and grace marks due to a 'loss of examination time'.
A total of 20.38 lakh students registered for the exam, out of which 11.45 lakh candidates qualified. The result was announced on Tuesday and 67 students have achieved an All India Rank (AIR) 1.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that 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.
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.
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.
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.
Then 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.
