NEET 2024 Controversy: Over 4000 Students stage protest in Hyderabad Demanding Re-NEET
Hyderabad: Nearly 4,000 students and medical aspirants took to the streets in Hyderabad to protest against the alleged irregularities in NEET this year. The protesters demanded a re-conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET (UG) along with a CBI inquiry, citing significant irregularities in the examination process.
The protest was spearheaded by Varun Choudhary, the national president of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), who extended an invitation to all student bodies, including the Students' Federation of India (SFI), All India Students' Federation (AISF), Vidyarthi Jana Sabha (VJS), Progressive Youth Council (PYC), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), All India Youth Federation (AIYF), Progressive Youth League (PYL), and Youth Justice Society (YJS), among others, to join the demonstration.
Waving banners and flags of various student unions, the protestors embarked on their march from Himayatnagar Circle and Liberty Junction, proceeding to the iconic Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Statue on Tank Bund. The rally, which commenced around 10 a.m., brought traffic to a crawl, splitting the busy arterial road and causing significant delays during the morning rush hour.
Dr Fahad, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Telangana Secretary talked about the protestors' demands, emphasizing the need for a fresh NEET examination. "We are calling for an inquiry into the alleged NEET scam by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the National Testing Agency (NTA), and the abolition of the NTA. We believe the responsibility for conducting NEET should be returned to the States to ensure transparency and fairness for the affected students and their families," he said.
The doctor also expressed frustration over the political inaction, stating, "We will exert pressure on BJP ministers in Telangana and will not allow them to move freely unless they take immediate steps to address the grievances of the students and arrange for a re-conduct of NEET. The result was initially expected on June 14 but was delayed until the day of the publication of the vote results. This raises questions about the reasons for the postponement."
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.
