Supreme Court NEET Hearing: In response to growing concerns over the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for medical college admissions, the Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a stern warning to the National Testing Agency (NTA), which administers the exam nationwide.
“If there’s even 0.001% negligence on anyone’s part, it should be thoroughly dealt with,” the Supreme Court declared.
The case will be revisited in a hearing scheduled for July 8. Last week, the NTA informed the Supreme Court that it would nullify the grace marks awarded to 1,563 candidates in the NEET-UG exam. These candidates were offered the option to retake the exam on June 23, with results to be announced by June 30, the court was informed.
Candidates who opt out of the re-test will have their original scores reinstated, excluding the extra marks. The results of the NEET, taken by 24 lakh students on May 5, were announced on June 4. Shortly after, allegations of an exam paper leak emerged, with 67 students reportedly achieving a perfect score of 720/720.
Grace marks had been awarded to some students to compensate for time lost at the exam centre due to various issues.
Numerous student organisations have protested against the alleged NEET irregularities, citing issues such as incorrect question papers, torn Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets, and delays in their distribution.
Meanwhile, Alakh Pandey, the founder of the EdTech company Physics Wallah, has petitioned the Supreme Court to address major concerns regarding the NEET-UG 2024 examination. This vital entrance test for MBBS and other medical courses, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), has faced controversy over alleged irregularities.
Pandey’s petition claims that the NTA arbitrarily awarded grace marks to over 1,500 candidates. He has called for the formation of an expert panel to investigate the examination process and results.
Held on May 5 at 4,750 centres, the NEET-UG 2024 saw the participation of approximately 24 lakh candidates. Although the results were expected on June 14, they were released early on June 4, allegedly due to expedited answer sheet evaluations.
