Skand Vivek Dhar, New Delhi. There is hardly a year in the country when there is no irregularity in any examination. But the way irregularities have come to light in NEET-UG this year has put a question mark on the entire system. The Government of India had established the National Testing Agency to conduct entrance examinations and recruitment examinations in the country in a professional manner. But this testing agency seems to be failing miserably in its objectives. Let us know what is the controversy in NEET-UG, why it is there and what needs to be done to restore confidence among the candidates?

What is NEET and NTA?

Earlier, for admission to undergraduate seats (MBBS) in medical colleges in the country, All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) was conducted at the central level and Pre-Medical Test (PMT) in the states. Prestigious institutes like AIIMS and JIPMER used to conduct separate exams. AIPMT was conducted by CBSE across the country.

In the year 2013, a common exam for admission to MBBS was introduced by combining AIPMT and state PMTs, which was named National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG).

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (now Ministry of Education) formed a specialized body, National Testing Agency (NTA) in the year 2017 to conduct entrance examinations and recruitment exams.

In the year 2019, admission for MBBS in AIIMS and JIPMER was also linked to NEET-UG and the responsibility of conducting NEET-UG was given from CBSE to NTA.

NEET-UG is conducted in 13 languages ​​including English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. This year, NEET-UG was held on May 5, in which over 24 lakh candidates appeared at 4,750 centres.

What went wrong in NEET-UG?

The scheduled date for the NEET-UG result was June 14, but it came on June 4, 10 days before the scheduled time. In this, 67 candidates got 720 out of 720 marks, which is much higher than normal. Earlier, two students in the year 2023, three in 2022 and two in 2021 got 720 marks.

Six out of 67 toppers appeared for the exam at a single centre in Haryana. Questions are being raised about this and the candidates allege that mass cheating was done at this centre.

There are a total of 180 questions in NEET. Four marks are awarded for each correct answer and one mark is deducted for each wrong answer. In the result, there were many candidates who got even 718 marks, which is not possible. NTA said that due to the delay in starting of the exam at some centers, 1563 candidates were given grace marks as compensation for the time, due to which these marks were obtained.

Alakh Pandey, CEO of Physicswala, who had filed a petition in the Supreme Court in the NEET-UG case, calls this decision of giving grace marks arbitrary. However, after the order of the Supreme Court, these grace marks have been withdrawn.

Bihar Police is also investigating the NEET paper leak. Bihar Police claims that they have evidence of NEET paper leak. The Economic Offenses Unit of Bihar Police has arrested 13 people, including four students. They are accused of obtaining the question paper with answers before the May 5 exam. However, NTA is still denying the paper leak.

Similarly, in Godhra, Gujarat, police arrested five people for allegedly manipulating NEET. The accused charged Rs 10 lakh from each student to solve the exam paper. The modus operandi was that candidates would select a particular centre for NEET-UG and leave their OMR sheets blank during the exam. Later, one of the accused who was an official of that exam centre would fill in the correct answers in the blank OMR sheet.

Apart from these, there were some minor issues like lack of correlation between NEET-UG results and Class 12th marks, questions about the tie-breaking rule and presence of two correct answers in a Physics question.

What will happen now?

The matter is in the Supreme Court and it is certain that the NEET result is not being cancelled. The 1563 candidates who were earlier given grace marks and later withdrawn have been given the option to appear for the exam again on June 23. The results of the re-examination will be declared on June 30.

If candidates do not wish to appear for the exam again, their previous scores will be used for results without grace marks. Counselling for admission to MBBS, BDS and other courses will begin on July 6.

Meanwhile, Bihar Police's investigation into the paper leak is ongoing. EOW claims that it has recovered a list of 13 people to whom the exam mafia had provided papers and answers in exchange for lakhs of rupees. Out of these, four people have been arrested by EOW. Notice has been issued to the remaining nine candidates. Of these, one each is from UP and Maharashtra, while seven are from different districts of Bihar.

How will confidence in examinations be restored?

Supreme Court advocate Virag Gupta says, the government earlier said that there was no irregularity. Now the education minister has accepted that there are some flaws. After the Supreme Court order, it has been proved that there is definitely something fishy. Now it has become necessary to get answers to some questions.

First, the application date for NEET exam was extended. Is there any candidate among the toppers who applied during this extended date? What were the centres of those who filled the form later and what was their ranking? It is very important to know this to connect the dots.

Second, who signed the decision to declare the result before time. How many days ago was the order given? Third, the information that Bihar Police and Gujarat Police are seeking from NTA should be made available to them.

Gupta says, this is not just an issue related to NEET. NTA conducts many exams including JEE, the entrance exam for engineering colleges, CUET, the exam for admission to central universities. People from all over the country are affected by this.

Therefore, in the interest of the country, all the accused in this case should undergo narco test and strict action should be taken against those found guilty so that such incidents do not occur in future and people's faith in the system is restored.