Grace marks canceled for 1,563 NEET candidates, Centre tells SC
The Centre on Thursday said that the scorecards for 1,563 candidates who received "grace marks" in the NEET-UG 2024 examination will be canceled. The government told the court that a committee has been constituted to review the results of the candidates awarded "grace marks" to compensate for the loss of time suffered while appearing for NEET-UG. "These students will be given the option to take a re-test...on June 23," the National Testing Agency told the Supreme Court.
Counseling to continue: SC
Meanwhile, the SC reiterated that it will not stay the counseling process. "Counselling will go on and we will not stop it. If the exam goes then everything goes in totality so nothing to fear," the top court said. The plea filed against the NTA said that the exam on May 5 was conducted amid malpractices, including multiple paper leaks.
Nationwide protests over NEET-UG 2024 irregularities
The alleged unfair practices in the NEET-UG 2024 examination have led to nationwide student protests. The Supreme Court has issued a notice to both the Centre and the NTA regarding a petition for cancelling the NEET-UG result. The petition said that the "sanctity of this medical entrance examination has been compromised, although no stay has been put on undergraduate medical admissions counselling process."
Petitioners highlight discrepancies
Petitioners from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have voiced concerns about discrepancies in scores and alleged preferential treatment to some students. They pointed out inconsistencies in granting grace marks with "no defined logic" and noted "statistically impossible" scores such as full marks (720 out of 720). The petitioners also highlighted an instance where 67 students from one coaching center scored full marks.
Irregularities flagged by several opposition parties
The alleged irregularities have been flagged by several opposition parties including the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress. The AAP has demanded an SC-monitored SIT probe into the issue, while Congress leaders alleged paper leak and corruption. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Sunday said in an X post, "Lakhs of children prepare hard for exams like NEET and spend the most precious moments...preparing for it...year after year, paper leaks and irregularities related to results have been reported in these exams."
