NEET UG Row: Top court says exam sanctity is impacted and that 1,563 applicants may choose to retake the exam.
NEET UG Row: During the committee’s initial meetings, which were chaired by a former UPSC chairman, it was discussed that all 1,563 candidates could take a retest or accept their “non-normalized score,” which represents their actual performance prior to the addition of grace marks.
One of the options being considered by the four-member committee formed last week by the National Testing Agency (NTA) is a retest for all 1,563 candidates who were awarded “grace marks” for “loss of time” in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) this year. This comes after an uproar over the exceptionally high number of candidates scoring well in the entrance exam this time — 67 secured the perfect score of 720/720.
According to sources, the committee—the precise makeup of which the government has not yet revealed—is anticipated to provide its report to the NTA within the next two days.
During a Tuesday hearing on a petition to annul the exams due to alleged NEET-UG paper leaks, the NEET-UG paper leaks stated that the exam’s “sanctity has been affected” and pursued responses from the NTA and the Center.
“It’s not that easy to assume that just because you performed the exam, it’s inviolable. We want responses to that. There has been an impact on holiness. Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, one of a two-judge bench, said the NTA counsel, “Therefore, we want answers.”
However, the bench, led by Justice Vikram Nath, decided not to postpone the counseling and filed a companion case, which would be considered on July 8 by a bench chaired by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud.
“Allow the counseling to begin. Senior Attorney Mathews J. Nedumpara begged the bench to pause the counselling, but Justice Nath responded, “We are not stopping the counselling.” Nedumpara was representing the petitioners.
When the NEET-UG results were revealed on June 4, attention was immediately drawn to the fact that 67 candidates had received a perfect score of 720/720, and several candidates had received scores of 718 or 719, which some said were not conceivable given the exam’s design.
The NTA ascribed this to a number of things, such as a very simple paper, the choice to give extra credit to students who were delayed or made mistakes by NTA personnel or invigilators, and a wrong question.
For these three reasons, a total of 1,563 applicants at six test centers experienced an artificial boost in their scores due to the extra points they received in relation to the time they lost as a result of errors made by the invigilation personnel.
Six centers were located across the country: two in Chhattisgarh (Bahadurgarh and Dantewada), one each in Meghalaya, Surat, Bahadurgarh in Haryana, and Chandigarh.
Six centers were located across the country: two in Chhattisgarh (Bahadurgarh and Dantewada), one each in Meghalaya, Surat, Bahadurgarh in Haryana, and Chandigarh.
Explanation | Why is NEET a topic of discussion this year?
“Many members are leaning toward requiring these candidates to either accept their raw score (pre-normalization) or sit for a retest, even though this is not the final decision. Even after normalization, the majority of the 1,500 contenders received less than 300 out of 720 points. Even if they were given the opportunity to retake the test, there was concern that they could decline. It won’t be too hard to administer the test again for the remaining students, according to an anonymous source.
The counseling schedule is still pending announcement from the Directorate General of Health Services. In order to make sure that the results are made public prior to the start of the counseling process, should the NTA ultimately decide to retest, it must first confer with DGHS.
The entrance exam, which was given on May 5 in 571 cities—14 of which were outside of India—was taken by over 24 lakh students. As of right now, more than 700 medical colleges nationwide provide 1,08,940 MBBS seats, according to the most recent data available.
A group of students filed a new writ suit in the Supreme Court, questioning the integrity of the test in light of the paper leak claims. They asked the court to void the test and order NTA to reschedule it.
The students pleaded, saying, “They have been shaken after learning of the NEET exam paper leak. The petitioners are extremely worried and stressed out. The petitioner’s desire of one day becoming a doctor was fostered by their family.
A court led by Chief Justice dismissed a similar request on May 17 and scheduled a hearing for July 8 in response to the refusal to postpone the announcement of the NEET exam results.
