Education Minister Pradhan refutes NEET-UG paper leak allegations
Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, has denied allegations of a paper leak in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Under Graduate (NEET-UG) 2024. During a press conference on Thursday, he stated, "There is no paper leak, no proof has been found yet." The NEET exam was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5 across 4,750 centers with approximately 24 lakh candidates participating. Of the total, 67 students achieved a perfect score of 720.
Minister assures transparency amidst NEET-UG controversy
Pradhan further reassured students and parents of the government's commitment to transparency and justice. He explained that two sets of questions are always present at exam centers, and on the day of the exam, instructions are given on which set should be opened. However, in six centers, a delay of 30-40 minutes occurred due to the wrong set being opened by mistake, he added.
Supreme Court allows retest for affected NEET-UG candidates
Three petitions were submitted to the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of the NEET-UG results and a re-conduct of the exam due to allegations of paper leaks. On Thursday, the Centre said that the scorecards for 1,563 candidates who received "grace marks" in the 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.
Supreme Court seeks response on NEET-UG irregularities
Responding to the Supreme Court's judgment, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi alleged that the government mentioned nothing about the "larger scam." "It has been decided that the scorecards of 1,563 students will be cancelled, and they will be given an option to reattempt the exam. If some students do not wish to give the test again, then grace marks will be deducted from their current score. But we have heard nothing from the government on the larger scam," Gogoi said.
Re-test for 1,563 candidates on June 23
The re-test for all 1,563 candidates will be held on June 23, and the results will be declared on June 30. If any of the 1,563 candidates opt out of the retest, their previous marks without grace marks will be considered as the final result. Meanwhile, counseling for admissions into MBBS, BDS, and other courses will start on July 6.
