Irtiza Javed of Patna has got 700 out of 720 marks in NEET, the exam taken for admission in medical colleges. If he had got these marks last year, his rank would have been at least 350. Irtiza would have easily got admission in Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi, which is considered the third best medical college in the country.
But this year his ranking is 1973 and with this ranking he will be able to get admission in AIIMS Patna at the most. Irtiza says, “I and most of the people like me who have scored good marks have become victims of the grace marking policy of the National Testing Agency (NTA). If with the help of grace marks 67 students together get 720 out of 720 marks, then our ranking will definitely fall.”
Irtiza is among those students of Bihar who were protesting in Patna on June 9 against the rigging in the NEET exam. Their protest was against the NTA policy under which 1,563 candidates got grace marks. The reason behind this is that the candidates got less time to write the answer during the exam. However, on this basis, NEET is accused of giving grace marks to such an extent that even average students topped the exam.
This was the reason that a total of 67 students got 100% marks out of 720. Whereas in 2023, the number of candidates who scored 720 marks was only two. It is also surprising that this time six of those who scored 720 marks are from the same examination center in Jhajjar, Haryana.
Riya Rani, who was involved in the protest in Patna, says, “If this was the policy of NTA, then we should have been told about it. It should have been implemented last year as well. In the 2023 NEET exam, the question paper was distributed 40 minutes later in the room where I was. I missed 17 questions. We got neither extra time nor grace marks.”
Riya also calls this policy of NEET a scam. She says, “A girl who got grace marks solved 179 questions out of 180. She got some questions wrong and got 626 marks. She was given grace marks and her score was increased to 720. My question is that if she got less time then how did she solve 179 questions out of 180.”
In fact, for grace marking, NTA had cited a 2018 decision of the Supreme Court. At that time, the court had given this decision regarding the CLAT exam conducted for admission in law courses. But CLAT is a computer-based exam, whereas NEET is not such an exam. Some NEET candidates question the intentions of NTA, saying that the court had said in that 2018 decision that its guidelines would be applicable to other exams except medical and engineering. Despite this, NTA provided the facility of grace marking in NEET.
Dr. Akhilesh, a lecturer at Patna Science College who keeps an eye on this issue, says, “Grace marking was allowed by the Supreme Court in connection with the CLAT exam. It was only for the online exam, because after the time passes, the online window closes. It has been wrongly implemented in the medical exam.” Meanwhile, Vipin Kumar Singh, the owner of a coaching institute that prepares students for medical, says, “It is clearly written in the Supreme Court’s judgment that this rule cannot be implemented in medical and engineering.”
Abdul Ahad, who lives in Abul Fazal Enclave in New Delhi, has been appearing for the NEET exam for the last three years. This year he scored 655 marks. Ahad says, “Last year, with this many marks, the rank was between five to six thousand. This year the questions were relatively easy, so it was believed that with 655 marks the ranking would be between seven to eight thousand. Some people were assuming a maximum of 9,000. But I was surprised to see my result that despite getting 655 marks, my rank was 25,900! If the ranking was even between eight to nine thousand, I would have got some good college, but this year, even if I get a government college at the lowest rank, it would be a big thing.”
Questioning the entire system of grace marking of NTA, he says, “NTA has made marking efficiency the basis for grace marking. But this basis is wrong because generally all the students solve the questions of Biology first. It has 90 questions and the students preparing for NEET mainly study Biology, so the answers to most of these questions are correct. In such a situation, if someone got less time and has solved the questions of this section first, then on that basis his marking efficiency will come out to be good but it will not be real, because the marking efficiency will also be different in the questions of different sections. Therefore, the entire criterion of NTA to give grace marks by calculating the marking efficiency on the basis of solving Biology questions in less time is wrong.”
However, this NEET controversy is not just about giving grace marks to 1,563 candidates to help them reach the top rankings. Many students allege that this time the paper has also been leaked, which NTA is not ready to accept.
Ritwik, a candidate who appeared in NEET, says, “Actually, the biggest problem of NEET this year is rank inflation. Last year, people were getting a ranking of three or four thousand, this year it has reached 18,000 to 20,000. Students have lost a ranking of 14,000-15,000. The reason is paper leak.”
Vipin Kumar explains the whole matter properly. He says, “Bihar Police has arrested many people in the paper leak case. Investigation has revealed that the paper was leaked on May 4, a day before the May 5 exam. This question paper was made to be memorized by the students. In such a situation, how will the students who only study compete with it? The problem is that NTA is not even accepting the fact of paper leak. Its argument is that the question paper was shared on social media at 4.30 pm, so this paper is not leaked.”
Vipin’s statement seems true because the Economic Offenses Unit of Bihar Police had started action against the paper leak in NEET from May 5 itself. By May 6, 13 people had been arrested, including several candidates, their parents and solvers who were students of other medical colleges. Later, names of 11 other candidates came to light. A burnt paper was also recovered, which contained 74 questions of NEET.
One of the arrested candidates was Ayush. He told the police that on the night of May 4, he was taken to Learn Play School in Patna. There were 24 other candidates there. Everyone was taught the questions and their answers by heart and these were the questions that came in the NEET exam.
However, on these allegations, NTA’s senior director Dr. Sadhana Parashar while talking to the media said that the matter of paper leak is completely baseless. Bihar Police also sent all the evidence to NTA, but its reply has not come yet. A PIL has also been filed in Patna High Court regarding this matter.
A similar complaint came from Godhra in Gujarat. A total of 16 candidates from other states were brought here. All of them had chosen Godhra as their examination center. It is alleged that at the center where all these candidates went to take the exam, they did not fill their OMR sheet and the people who were taking the exam here are accused of filling the sheet. Many reports were published in local newspapers about this but no investigation has been started in this matter till now.
Amid allegations of rigging in the NEET exam, worried students say that the best way would have been for the NTA to make all OMR sheets public. Irtiza says, “If the NTA does not want to do this in the name of privacy, then at least it should open them for the CBI or any other investigating agency.”
There is a lot of resentment among doctors on this whole issue. Dr. Ajay Kumar, convener of IMA Bihar Action Committee, says, “There is an atmosphere of suspicion in the country and there is a full basis for this suspicion. On the basis of the evidence that is being found, it seems that it would be better if the NEET exam is cancelled.”
A petition has also been filed in the Supreme Court demanding cancellation of NEET exam. The court had sought a reply from the Central Government and NTA on this on June 11. During the hearing, the court accepted that the credibility of NEET has been damaged but it refused to cancel the exam. The court has issued a notice to NTA in this matter and sought an answer whether there was any irregularity in the NEET exam? However, it also refused to stop the counseling.
On the issue of giving grace marks to 1,563 candidates, on June 13, NTA told the Supreme Court that the marks given to them will now be canceled and the result will be released with the score of the candidates without grace marks. The government also says that if these candidates want, they can appear in the NEET exam to be held again on June 23 or they will have to accept the marks obtained without grace marks.
With this decision of the central government, this matter is not over yet. Alakh Pandey, a petitioner in this case and CEO of coaching institute Physics Wala, while talking to the media said, “NTA has admitted before the Supreme Court that it was wrong to give grace marks. Now the question is whether the agency has done more such irregularities, which we are not aware of… The paper leak case is not closed yet and the hearing on it will continue.” Till now this case was with the vacation bench of the Supreme Court, but on July 8, the bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud will hear it.
This is not the only case related to NEET UG-2024 which is in the court. Many such cases have been filed in different High Courts of the country. Apart from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh High Court, petitions have also been filed in Delhi High Court and Patna High Court. Through these, about 20,000 candidates have appealed to the judiciary for justice.
This time’s NEET case is similar to the All India Pre Medical Test held in 2015. That exam was cancelled by the court. The exam was conducted by CBSE. But the court did not accept the argument of CBSE in which it said that only 44 students were involved in the paper leak. On this basis, this time too the candidates are demanding cancellation of NEET UG exam.
However, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has denied any possibility of paper leak. After the hearing in the Supreme Court on June 13, he said, “We want to assure the students and their parents that the Government of India and NTA are committed to doing justice to them. No paper has been leaked. We have not found any evidence of this yet.”
The opposition is also quite vocal on this issue. When this matter came to light, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter, “Narendra Modi has not even taken oath yet and the scam in NEET exam has devastated more than 24 lakh students and their families… The government is constantly denying the possibility of paper leak. Today I assure all the students of the country that I will become your voice in Parliament and strongly raise the issues related to your future.”
These statements of Rahul indicate that the issue of alleged rigging in NEET UG is going to be raised by the opposition parties in the Parliament session to be held from June 24. When India Today tried to contact the agency’s chairperson Pradeep Kumar Joshi to know the NTA’s stand on all the allegations, his office refused to let us talk to the chairperson and said that NTA has answered all the questions in a press release issued on June 6.
According to this press release, the NTA clearly believes that there was no irregularity. However, as happened on June 13, further hearings in the Supreme Court may force the NTA to reverse its stance.
accused of distraction
Many candidates who appeared for the NEET UG-2024 exam claim that by releasing the NEET result on June 4, the same day when the results of the Lok Sabha elections were coming, NTA tried its best to cover up the irregularities in this exam but it did not work. Actually, the NEET result was to be released on June 14 but NTA released the result 10 days earlier. These candidates claim that now a similar attempt to divert attention is being made by ordering to make two to three years of internship mandatory for students coming from abroad after studying medicine.
In fact, due to the Russia-Ukraine war, students coming to India after studying medicine from here and other countries are facing many problems. In such a situation, for the students who have done some part of their course online, the National Medical Commission (NMMC) has announced to make two to three years of internship mandatory on June 7, 2024. NMC has said that the students of online classes are getting certificates from their respective institutions in an incorrect manner and in such a situation, NMC will not accept such certificates.
Earlier also, such students have been forced to protest against their problems and present their case before the government and approach the court. So, this time also there is a possibility that these students may come out to protest. It may happen that the matter of rigging in NEET UG is left behind.