NEW DELHI, June 21:
The Supreme Court Friday refused to defer the NEET-UG counselling process, scheduled to kick off on July 6, saying it is not an “open and shut” exercise, even as the political pot kept boiling over the controversy-ridden exam with the opposition attacking the Centre over alleged paper leak and other irregularities.
The National Testing Agency (NTA), under fire over the lapses in the conduct of NEET and UGC-NET, is gearing up to conduct on Sunday a retest for the medical entrance exam for 1,563 candidates who were earlier awarded grace marks to make up for the loss of time at six centres.
The Congress party, meanwhile, staged protests across the country over the alleged irregularities and demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who skipped the Delhi University’s Yoga Day event where some students held a protest against the alleged irregularities.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched a scathing attack on the government, saying the issue has become a national problem under the BJP rule which has “ruined the future” of crores of youth.
The protests came a day after Pradhan ruled out any immediate action towards cancelling the NEET, saying the Government cannot jeopardise careers of lakhs of students who cleared the exam rightfully because of isolated incidents of malpractices.
According to NTA officials, the re-exam for 1,563 candidates scheduled on Sunday would be conducted at seven centres.
“While all other examination centres have changed, one centre in Chandigarh, where only two candidates will appear, will remain the same. Besides, officials from the agency and Union education ministry will also be present at these centres. The step has been taken to ensure smooth conduct of the re-exam,” a senior NTA official added.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati demanded strict action against the main accused in the NEET-UG question paper leak.
In a post on X in Hindi, Mayawati said, “The Government needs to take strict action against the main accused in the NEET (question) paper leak case due to which innocent students are suffering. And it is not right to do any politics under its guise.”
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha said a request will be made to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to recommend a CBI probe into the suspected links of the arrested prime suspect in the NEET “paper leak” with officials associated with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.
Sinha had Thursday claimed that officials associated with Tejashwi Yadav were in constant touch with prime suspect — Sikander Prasad Yadvendu — in the NEET “paper leak”.
Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose on Friday said the spate of paper leaks has exposed the “governance deficit” of the Modi Government, and asked why heads are not rolling after the irregularities in the conduct of exams have come to the fore.
The NEET-UG examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates appeared in it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, with the NTA saying the evaluation of the answer sheets got completed earlier.
As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA’s history, with six from a centre in Haryana’s Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.
The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in Government and private institutions across the country.(PTI)
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