NEET UG Row 2024 Updates: NEET re-exam now on June 23

The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) in Bihar, which is probing allegations of a paper leak in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) held on May 5, has said its investigation is “suggestive of a paper leak”.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Additional Director General of Police, EOU, N H Khan said, “We had asked a set of questions to the National Testing Agency, which organises NEET. Our team has just received answers. We may have some follow-up questions. We have been working on some contacts we have received in the course of our investigation, which is very much suggestive of a paper leak.”

As Opposition slams Modi government for the NEET controversy, Pradhan comes in defence of the NTA. Take a look at what the big leaders said on this conroversy.

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The government will not tolerate any malpractice or irregularities in the conduct of exams and accountability of the National Testing Agency will be fixed if lapses are found, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday amid a row over medical entrance exam NEET.

About action taken against six centres where the exam paper was wrongly distributed and candidates had to be compensated with grace marks to make up for the loss of time, he said, "Every aspect is being looked into. Accountability will be fixed and depending upon the nature of lapse action will be taken." "There is no scope for any malpractice or irregularities in the conduct of any exam. We will not tolerate that. The accountability of the National Testing Agency (NTA) will also be fixed if lapses are found," Pradhan said in response to a question by PTI.

The comments by the minister came on a day when Congress stepped up its attack on the government over the NEET-UG exam issue and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the matter. The opposition party asserted that only a Supreme Court-monitored forensic probe can safeguard the future of lakhs of young students.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed the Modi government has started "covering up the NEET scam" through the Union education minister and NTA.

"They have just lost the elections and are now looking for a new issue. We have the facts and misleading students and the public based on lies is not right," he added.

Explaining the rationale behind the rise in the number of toppers and cut-off marks this year, Pradhan said the syllabus for NEET was reduced as per the syllabus rationalised by NCERT.

"In previous years, the NEET syllabus wasn't cut down. This year we also aligned the questions with the state boards' syllabus. Less syllabus and more number of candidates also led to the rise in competition and ultimately increase in the number of top scorers," the Union education minister said.

(PTI)

Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera asked why did the Modi government and the NTA "inflate" marks versus ranks, this year.
"The complete result of last year and this year of students scoring 580 plus should be made public by NTA if the Modi government claims that the entire examination process is transparent. The centres of students scoring 580 plus should also be made public to see how many students travelled far off from their place to take NEET exam," he said.
Khera said the board marks should also be correlated with NEET marks for last year and this year to see how much the data correlates.
"The videos of centres where there are major high scorers must be released so that this scam can be identified as OMR was filled after exam or at NTA office or some impersonation happened so that the truth comes out," he said.
Only a Supreme Court-monitored forensic probe is a solution to safeguard the future of lakhs of young students, Khera asserted.

Congress leader today again questioned the Centre on the probe on NEET paper leak. In a post in Hindi on social media platform 'X', he questioned the arrests made. "If the paper was not leaked in NEET then -- why were 13 accused arrested in Bihar due to paper leak? Did the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Patna police not expose the payment of Rs 30 lakh-Rs 50 lakh to the education mafia and organised gangs involved in the racket in exchange for papers?" he said."Has NEET-UG cheating racket not been busted in Godhra, Gujarat? In which three people are involved including a person running a coaching centre, a teacher and another person and according to Gujarat Police, transactions of more than Rs 12 crore have come to light between the accused?" Kharge said.

Stepping up its attack on the government over the NEET exam issue, the Congress on Friday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the matter and asserted that only a Supreme Court-monitored forensic probe can safeguard the future of lakhs of young students, according to PTI.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that the Modi government has started "covering up the NEET scam" through Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the National Testing Agency (NTA).
"If the paper was not leaked in NEET then -- why were 13 accused arrested in Bihar due to paper leak? Did the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Patna police not expose the payment of Rs 30 lakh-Rs 50 lakh to the education mafia and organised gangs involved in the racket in exchange for papers?" he said in a post in Hindi on X.
"Has NEET-UG cheating racket not been busted in Godhra, Gujarat? In which three people are involved including a person running a coaching centre, a teacher and another person and according to Gujarat Police, transactions of more than Rs 12 crore have come to light between the accused?" Kharge said.
If according to the Modi government, no paper was leaked in NEET, then why were these arrests made, he asked.
"What conclusion is drawn from this? Was the Modi government trying to fool the people of the country earlier or now? The Modi government has crushed the aspirations of 24 lakh youth," Kharge said.

The Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in a social media post said: "Central govt. is committed to protect the interests of NEET examinees. I want to assure the students that all their concerns will be addressed with fairness and equity. No student will be at a disadvantage and no child’s career will be at jeopardy."

Retired judge of Madras High Court Justice A K Rajan has asked the Tamil Nadu government to take immediate steps to eliminate NEET UG through legal and/or legislative procedures and make higher secondary examination marks the sole criteria for admission to first year medical programmes.

Amid the row over the NEET UG 2024 results, including allegations of a paper leak, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Thursday that there was no evidence of a paper leak.

Pradhan, who returned for a second innings as the head of the Ministry and took charge Thursday, made the remark even as the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced that a NEET retest would be conducted for 1,563 candidates who were given ‘grace marks’ for ‘loss of time’ during the exams. It said that these ‘grace marks’ stand withdrawn.

The NEET UG 2024 admit card for the candidates appearing in the retest concerned will be issued subsequently, NTA said while announcing the conduct of retest.

At one of the Examination Centres, i.e. Girl’s Higher Secondary Model School, Mandir, Mantown, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, there was an incident of incorrect distribution of Question Papers (QPs). It was found that the Centre Superintendent had mistakenly distributed QPs intended for Hindi medium candidates to those taking the English medium exam, and vice versa. This led to agitation by some candidates, who left the examination center with question papers, despite efforts by the Centre Staff to prevent them from doing the same. It was also found that copies of this Question Paper were circulated on social media at around 4.25 P.M., creating an impression that QP was leaked before the commencement of the examination. It is to emphasize that, even though the QP was taken out by some students and circulated on the Internet, there is no way any external person/agency could access the centres, once the
examination started. Moreover, all Centres were under CCTV surveillance.

The examination of affected candidates of the aforementioned Centre at Sawai Madhopur was conducted on the same day, i.e. 05
May 2024 with the correct medium Question Paper, ensuring that their academic aspirations were not hindered by this incident.

The vacation bench also sought responses from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Bihar government within two weeks. It said the PIL will also be taken up with other pending ones on July 8, when the top court will start functioning after the summer vacation.

Supreme Court issues notices to Centre, NTA on plea for CBI probe into allegations of question paper leak, other irregularities in NEET UG 2024, as per PTI

A group of students protested at the Jantar Manter here with the slogan "24 lakh students want exam, not scam" and a fair investigation into the paper leak matter.

Kashish, a candidate of the NEET UG exam, said, "I got 670 marks and I want the seat I deserve. We all want a fair investigation into the paper leak issue as we have worked hard for the exam."

Speaking about the Supreme Court's decision on grace marks, Kashish added, "I have no issue with the Supreme Court's decision on grace marks, but no one is addressing the paper leak issue, which is the major demand of each student here."

Another student, Harsh Dubey, said, "No one is talking about the paper leak. If an FIR has been lodged in Bihar about the NEET paper leakage, it must be investigated."

Talking about the current scenario, Dubey told PTI Videos that ranks may increase by two to three thousand, but they should not reach up to 20 to 25 thousand." Ranks and numbers have increased all over India due to the paper leak, and now there's talk of grace marks, Anuj Kumar said.

-PTI

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday said the Centre agreeing to cancel grace marks awarded in NEET 2024 is another admission of its own 'ineptitude' and batted for restoration of the role of state governments in deciding the method of selection for MBBS.
The CM, in a post on X said: "The Union Government's attempt to wriggle out of the recent #NEET scam by agreeing to cancellation of grace marks is another admission of their own ineptitude. It should not be allowed to divert the attention away from the core problems of irregularities and unprofessional conduct of exams, after taking away the right of States.
While condemning their incompetence as well apathy towards the agony of lakhs of students, we reiterate that the only solution for this issue is to restore the role of state governments in deciding the method of selection for MBBS courses." In Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK, main opposition AIADMK and other parties barring the BJP are opposed to NEET and seek its abolition.

- PTI

The Supreme Court of India issues notices to parties on pleas of the National Testing Agency (NTA) seeking transfer of petitions from high courts across the country to the top court. All the NEET UG 2024 related issues will be heard by the Supreme Court on July 8.

As first reported by The Indian Express on Wednesday, these candidates who were awarded ‘grace marks’ due to the loss of exam time now have two options before them: either to accept the NEET-UG score that they were originally awarded (without grace marks) or to re-appear for the exam on June 23. “The exam will be conducted in the same six cities but at different centres,” a senior NTA official told The Indian Express.

Explained | Why NTA withdrew ‘grace marks’ awarded to 1,563 NEET candidates

The NEET UG 2024 admit card for the candidates concerned will be issued subsequently. The fresh score card after the examination in case the candidate appears for the re-examination will be hosted on the website after the examination. 

Protests were held near the West Bengal Education Department's headquarters in Salt Lake on Thursday, alleging irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET UG and delay in the start of admissions in state-run colleges. Expressing solidarity with the students over the issue of NEET UG, the TMC demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe.

With placards in hands, members of the All India Democratic Students' Organisation (AIDSO) were on the way to the Bikash Bhavan in Salt Lake near Kolkata when they were stopped by the police.

The police initially tried to pacify the protestors and remove them from the area. However, as they were firm on moving forward, police detained some of them and whisked them away in vehicles. One of the protesters claimed that the future of many aspiring doctors has been jeopardised because of the row over NEET-UG.

Also, frustration among students is rising as even a month after the higher secondary results were announced, the admissions in state-run colleges did not begin, while private colleges have already begun the process, he said. TMC spokesperson Santanu Sen alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre was playing with the future of students.

"This is one of the biggest scams of the BJP-led central government. The BJP is playing with the future of lakhs of students. We demand a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into this entire NEET-UG scandal, which has affected around 24 lakh students," said Sen, who is also a doctor.

Kunal Sarkar, a prominent city-based doctor, claimed the reports about the irregularities were just the “tip of the iceberg”, and there is a possibility of thousands of seats in several private medical colleges being “put to auction in exchange of money ranging from Rs 2-3 crore”.

“It is a case of corruption of Himalayan proportions... We demand the entire counselling and admission process be put on hold for a month,” he said.

Another prominent physician, Dr Arkadeep Biswas, added: “In previous years, students securing 600 marks could get admission to reputed medical colleges, but this year's irregularities might deprive even those scoring 650 the opportunity to study medicine.”

- PTI

The marks obtained by the candidates who will appear in the NEET UG re-test will be considered and their marks based on examination on May 5 will be discarded.

The result of those affected candidates (1563) who do not wish to appear for the reexamination, will be declared based on their actual marks (without compensation) obtained in the examination conducted on May 5.

The NEET UG retest registration will likely begin soon. The admit cards will be released subsequently. 

The row over NEET UG doesn't seem to get over soon. The Education Minister has responded on 'X' to the Opposition's remarks

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday slammed the Centre over the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions to medical courses, saying awarding grace marks was 'unacceptable' as it amounted to fraud.

The growing resentment and protest across the country to holding the NEET only strengthened the DMK's repeated plea to abolish the screening test, State Health Minister Ma Subramanian said.

“The National Testing Agency has to be blamed for the irregularities and confusion arising due to the conduct of the test, especially awarding grace marks. What was the basis for granting grace marks and has this decision been communicated to the NEET aspirants?” Subramanian asked.

The irregularities and confusion have only caused mental agony to 23 lakh candidates who appeared for the test, he told reporters here and claimed that none from Tamil Nadu were given grace marks.

Earlier in the day, the Centre informed the Supreme Court the decision to give grace marks to 1,563 NEET-UG 2024 candidates for admissions to MBBS and BDS courses has been cancelled and that they will be given an option to appear for re-test on June 23.

“The call to scrap NEET is now being heard all over India and the DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin had been insisting on doing away with the test. The union government should come forward to abolish NEET exam at least now,” Subramanian said.

The Health Minister accused former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami of allowing NEET into the state despite his party supremo and late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa opposing it.

Demanding justice for the aspirants, Subramanian said NEET has denied many students, especially those with rural background and economically weaker, an opportunity to access medical education.

(PTI)

'Grace Marks was not the only problem in NEET exam. There has been rigging, papers have been leaked, corruption has taken place,' says Mallikarjun Kharge.

Mr. Naresh Kaushik, learned counsel appearing for the NTA, upon instructions, has stated that the re-test will be notified today itself and would be held on 23rd of June, 2024. The result of the same would be declared prior to 30th June, 2024 so that the counseling which is likely to start from 6th July, 2024 onwards would not be affected," the SC verdict reads.

Shwetank Sailakwal, advocate of the petitioner, told reporters today that all the other NEET UG 2024 related issues will be heard by the Supreme Court on July 8.

Regarding the viral video featuring a candidate of the NEET UG 2024, claiming discrepancies in NEET (UG) - 2024 scoring and receiving of the torn OMR Answer Sheet, NTA clarifies that no torn OMR Answer Sheet was sent via an official NTA ID. OMR Answer Sheet is intact and Scores are accurate as per official records. Candidates should download Scorecards only from the official website

“Having taken oath only two days ago, the Education Minister (Dharmendra Pradhan) has rushed to give a clean chit to the NTA. On the basis of what enquiry? What investigation has he done?" says Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi.

"NTA to contact these 1563 candidates through email to ensure they receive the official communication," says NTA.

Usually, as per NEET UG marking scheme, students cannot be awarded 718 or 719 marks. However, this time, due to the compensatory marks, two candidates happened to secure 718 and 719 marks. 

"To prevent cheating, CCTV cameras were installed in all examination halls. Biometric verification was done for the candidates. Conducted thorough frisking at entry points. Used the latest jammers to block electronic communication devices," the NTA claims.

"Thanks to the Honourable Courts for the decision that they have taken with regards to the NEET UG 2024. The rescindment of grace marks for the 1563 students is a win-win both for them as well as the other students who worked hard to achieve their scores. We have been reassuring our learners from day 1 that the government and the NTA will do right by them, and this decision by the court is a step in the right direction," he tweeted on X.

Yes, every room has a CCTV camera installed. They are used for monitoring throughout the test as well as for post-examination video evaluation to look for malpractice and cheating. Candidates found engaging in malpractice, even after the exam, are subject to punitive action.

The Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday dismissed all reports of paper leaks in NEET UG 2024 and came out in support of NTA. “There is no evidence of a paper leak in NEET-UG. The allegations of corruption in NTA are unfounded, it is a very credible body,” Pradhan told reporters. Read more

NTA claims that 17 students were getting a 720/720 score and six students out of the 1,563 candidates who were awarded ‘grace marks’ ended up in the top ranks.

In addition to this, a total of 44 other students got crowned with AIR 1 as they got an answer to a physics question wrong – and received “grace marks” for that. As per NTA, a multiple-choice Physics question on atoms had an incorrect statement in an old NCERT book. However, on May 29, NTA released its provisional answer key which showed that Option 1 is correct, and that was challenged by 13,373 students who claimed that NTA’s answer did not match with old NCERT books. The NTA states that the question paper was drafted from the new NCERT book.

This decision saw 44 candidates have their scores boosted from 715 to a perfect 720, making them among the unprecedented number of NEET-UG toppers this year.

“We will try to release the result of this retest of over 1560 candidates before June 30, so that the counselling process is not affected,” a senior NTA official said.

Following the controversy over the grace marks, meetings were held on June 10, 11 and 12 wherein it was proposed to cancel the scorecards and hold a retest.

The Supreme Court has directed NTA to ensure that no delay is made in declaration of results, and the counselling process does not face any hindrance.

NTA and the Union Education Ministry formed a committee on Saturday to review the normalisation policy that was adopted for over 1,563 candidates who were awarded “grace marks” to compensate for the “loss of time” suffered while appearing for this year’s NEET UG. 

Congress demands Supreme Court monitored investigation into NEET UG examination issue. "The Congress believes that BJP govt attitude towards an ongoing NEET issue is irresponsible and insensitive. We demand SC monitored investigation into this scandal that has affected 24 lakh aspirants. We believe no inquiry can be unbiased if it is done by NTA. Its chairperson should be removed," said Congress leader and MP Gaurav Gogoi at a press conference at AICC headquarters in Delhi. 

"Instead of paying attention to this issues, prime minister us busy with oath taking and going abroad. INDIA alliance will take up this issue. We will raise it in Parliament too," he added.

The special committee appointed by NTA for NEET UG 2024 result controversy comprised of one member from MoHFW, one from NIOS and two UPSC members. 

The loss of examination time was ascertained and such candidates were compensated with marks based on their answering efficiency and time lost, as per the mechanism/ formula established by the Hon’ble Apex Court, vide its judgment dated 13.06.2018 in W.P. 551 of 2018. 1563 candidates were compensated for the loss of time. 

"There is no evidence of paper leak in NEET-UG. The allegations of corruption in NTA are unfounded, it is a very credible body," Pradhan told reporters on Thursday.

"According to the recommendations of the committee, it has been suggested that the score-cards of the affected 1,563 candidates issued on June 4, 2024 will stand cancelled and withdrawn. These affected 1,563 candidates will be informed of their actual scores without compensatory marks.”

It added, “Further, re-test will be conducted for the 1,563 candidates. The results of candidates who do not wish to appear for the re-exam will be declared on their actual marks without compensation obtained by them in the May 5 examination and the marks of those who will appear in the retest will be considered and their marks based on the examination held on May 5, 2024, will be discarded.”

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The NEET UG 2024 retest for 1563 candidates will now be conducted on June 23. The details about the fresh admit cards, exam centres and other details will be announced in a few days after a meeting is conducted today, NTA told indianexpress.com.

The grace marks were awarded on the basis of a normalisation formula picked by NTA from a 2018 Supreme Court judgment regarding a similar incident in CLAT. The normalisation formula adopted in the CLAT 2018 exam adjusted the candidate’s score based on the time lost and the answering efficiency. 

The NTA, too, has followed the same process and 1563 candidates were compensated for the loss of time. As per NTA, the revised marks of such candidates vary from -20 to 720 marks. Amongst these, the score of two candidates also happens to be 718 and 719 marks respectively due to the compensatory marks. 

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today said that there has been 'no evidence of paper leak in NEET-UG'. 

(PTI)

Out of the six affected centres, two were in Chhattisgarh (one each in Balod and Dantewada), one each in Meghalaya, Surat, Haryana’s Bahadurgarh and Chandigarh.

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If a candidate doesn't re-appear for the NEET UG 2024 exam, their result will be based on actual marks that they had scored without grace marks.

"All 1563 candidates who suffered time loss weill have the option of appearing for the NEET UG 2024 retest on June 23. We will also consider this option for any other student who files a petition in the Court," a senior official told indianexpress.com.

NTA told indianexpress.com that the affected candidates will now be given two options — either to accept the score that they were originally awarded, without the grace marks, or re-appear for the exam on June 23. “The exam will be conducted in the same six cities but different centres,” a senior NTA official told indianexpress.com.

Read more here

As reported earlier by The Indian Express, the NTA's high-powered committee has decided to give students two options:

- Either to accept the score that they were originally awarded, without the grace marks

- Or re-appear for the exam on June 23. 

The NTA has decided to conduct a retest for the 1563 affected students on June 23

"Insofar as allegations of unfair means, a meeting was held on 10th,11th and 12th. Committee has recommended score cards of 1563 candidates be cancelled. Re-exam will be conducted for affected candidates," Adv Kanu Agarwal (for Union) said, as per LiveLaw.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday demanded a probe into the alleged irregularities in the conduct of this year's NEET UG for aspiring medical students by a credible investigative agency such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In a letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Chaturvedi said there have been concerns regarding the conduct of the exam for undergraduate medical programmes, the paper having 'leaked' before the test and the decision on awarding grace marks arbitrarily to students.

These are valid and grave concerns that can lead to serious consequences for lakhs of medical students whose careers are at stake, the Rajya Sabha MP noted.

There have been reports of numerous technical glitches during the test, discrepancies in the official answer keys and poorly managed exam centres. The 'irregularities' in the evaluation of answer sheets have raised doubts about the fairness of the entire process, Chaturvedi maintained.

'It is unfortunate neither the government nor exam conducting nodal agencies have shown the responsibility to be accountable to the lakhs of students who appeared for these exams, NTA (National Testing Agency) cannot dismiss the issues away with its explanation quoting several factors which might have contributed to the higher scores in this year's NEET exam,' she said in the letter.

The committee constituted by them (to review grace marks awarded to NEET UG 2024 candidates), headed by the NTA chairman, after immense pressure from the student community also raises doubts about the fairness of the probe as those under the investigation lens are the ones who are on the panel, the Shiv Sena (UBT) MP averred.

Paper leaks across various exams in the country have become common place. Lack of serious approach by the government and the agencies entrusted with the conduct of these exams has led to emboldening of brokers, guilty administrators to continue to thrive on these leakages, she alleged.

In Bihar, the Economic Office Unit (EoU) is conducting an investigation that has led to the arrest of brokers who extorted amounts from candidates as high as Rs 30 lakh to 50 lakh, the Rajya Sabha member said.

'Hence, I would urge you to conduct an independent, transparent and time-bound investigation by a credible investigative agency such as the CBI to uncover this racket,' she said.

The NTA also needs to come clean on its methodology to grant grace marks in case of discrepancies during conduct of exams, Chaturvedi maintained.

The Maharashtra government, too, has sought cancellation of the exam, stating it has caused injustice to the students of the state who have appeared for the pre-medical test.

There are allegations of irregularities in medical entrance exam NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) -- conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad -- and inflation of marks.

The NTA has, however, clarified that the increase in cut off and number of toppers in the NEET-UG reflect the competitive nature of the exam and maintained the test's integrity has not been compromised. 

(PTI)

The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Wednesday asked the National Testing Agency to produce the original records of a student who has alleged she is yet to get her NEET result. The bench has fixed June 18 as the next date of hearing in the matter.

-- PTI

Bollywood actor, Sonu Sood, today tweeted about the ongoing NEET UG 2024 controversy.