NeetUG24Controversy : ‘My seat has been stolen, we want to re-NEET’. This is the slogan echoing in the minds of 23 lakh 33 thousand students. Actually, this number is of those students who appeared in the NEET 2024 exam. On June 4, when the fate of the country was being decided by the counting of votes cast in EVMs and ballot boxes, at the same time, the fate of these students was also being prepared on the basis of OMR sheets. But now due to the investigation of this OMR sheet, the number of toppers and the 100 percent marks they got, the future of 23 lakh students has been put into question.
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What is the whole matter?
In the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) this year, 67 students have secured the first position. This means they have got 100% marks. 720 out of 720 marks. The biggest thing is that out of the 67 students who topped, 6 students have given the exam at the same exam center, which is in Jhajjar, Haryana. In this exam, some students have got 718 and 719 marks, which is mathematically impossible at all as per the scheme of the exam.
Actually, in this exam, if a student answers a question correctly, he gets 4 marks. On the other hand, if a student answers a question incorrectly, one mark is deducted from the marks obtained. Now suppose a student has written answers to all the questions and only one answer is wrong, then he will get 715 marks. Now the question arises that on what basis and by what mathematics some students have got 718 and 719 marks.
Apart from this, questions are also being raised that when the NEET result was to be declared on June 14, then why was it declared on June 4? Was this done deliberately so that people’s attention remains focused on the election results and there is no discussion on the NEET result? These are big questions, the answers to which will probably be found in the future.
Wrong checking of OMR sheet
This case has come to light from Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh. When Nishita Soni, a resident of this place, saw her result, she was shocked. She had got 340 marks. Whereas, Nishita claims that she should have got 617 marks. Actually, now the OMR sheet of the student also comes with the result, so that the student can recheck his marks. When Nishita checked her OMR sheet, it was found that she had answered 178 questions out of a total of 200 questions. In this, the answers to 159 questions were correct and 19 were wrong. In such a situation, Nishita should have got a total of 617 marks. However, in the result, Nikita has been given 340 marks. Now Nishita has reached Jabalpur High Court regarding this matter.
Why the suspicion of paper leak?
On May 5, 2024, when the NEET exam was being conducted across the country, Patna Police received information that an attempt was being made to leak the question paper of NEET UG exam. On May 6, Bihar Police took action on this, took 13 accused into judicial custody and interrogated them.
However, the police did not say anything clearly about the paper leak. At that time, Patna SSP Rajiv Mishra had told ABP News in this entire matter that whether the paper was leaked or not is a sensitive issue. It would not be right to give a conclusion on this at this time, because this is a very sensitive point related to the future of 24 lakh candidates.
Coaching institutes are also angry
Along with the students, teachers running big coaching institutes in the country are also now angry with the NEET result. Alakh Pandey, founder of Physics Wala, has spoken out on this issue and while sharing a video on social media, he has said that he will now send a legal notice to the National Testing Agency regarding the irregularities in the NEET result. At the same time, Nitin Vijay, who runs an institute named Motion Education, is also angry with this result and is running a campaign against it on social media. Apart from this, he is also talking about going to the Supreme Court.
Demand for junior doctors
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) Junior Doctors Network has demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities in NEET and has written a letter to NTA Chairman Pradeep Kumar Joshi. In this, the doctors’ organization has also requested to conduct the NEET exam again to ensure a fair and transparent evaluation process for all students.
Students’ agitation
In Uttar Pradesh, which is known for always giving correct answers, students have started protesting against the fraud in the results of NEET exam. From Varanasi to Kanpur, a crowd of students is slowly coming out on the streets. On Friday, a large number of students in Kanpur protested vigorously alleging fraud and irregularities in the results of NEET exam.
On the other hand, student protests are continuing in Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘s parliamentary constituency Varanasi. The students there are demanding cancellation of the NEET exam alleging irregularities in its results. They clearly say that there has been rigging and irregularities in the results of the NEET exam, hence it should be investigated and the NEET exam should be conducted again.Â
Can the exam be conducted again?
It is not that if the NEET exam is conducted again, it will be the first time. In the year 2015, when the national level medical entrance exam AIPMT i.e. All India Pre Medical Test was conducted for MBBS and BDS admission, there were reports of paper leak at that time too. At that time, it was alleged that the answers to the questions were sent to some students through electronic devices at the exam center. When this matter reached the court, the Supreme Court said that the medical entrance exam should be cancelled and the exam should be conducted again in 4 weeks. Now it will be interesting to see what decision the Supreme Court will take this time.
What is NTA’s response?
Responding to all these questions, the National Testing Agency issued a press release on June 6. In this, NTA said that some students have got 718 or 719 marks because they have been given grace marks. This was done because they got less time at the examination center. On the students who got 720 out of 720 marks, NTA said that this happened because these students have been given revision marks for the answer to a question in Physics. On releasing the result early, NTA replied that declaring the result as soon as possible is a fixed process and this time NTA has done this work within 30 days.
After this, on June 8, the National Testing Agency held a press conference and in it, NTA Director General Subodh Kumar Singh said that a committee of former UPSC chairmen and educationists will investigate the irregularities in NEET and this committee can submit its report in the next 7 days. However, this investigation will not be of the entire case, rather the investigation of the alleged irregularities will be limited to only 6 centers and 1600 candidates. However, NTA did not give any answer as to why a day like June 4 was chosen to announce the result, when the Lok Sabha results were to be announced.
