Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dharmendra Pradhan, who took charge as Minister of Education on Thursday, reacted to the latest development in the Supreme Court over the NEET-UG (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate) case. Pradhan asserted the accused will be punished if any irregularity is found. The Indian government and NTA (National Testing Agency) are committed to holding fair examinations, he added.
"There is no corruption. In connection with the NEET examination, 24 lakh students appear in the examination. A hearing in the Supreme Court is underway today and this issue is regarding around 1,500 students. The government is ready to give answers to the court. This specific issue is being taken into consideration and a committee of academicians has been formed. The government will present this in front of the court. NTA conducts 3 major examinations that is NEET, JEE and CUET successfully in the country...We will take action against the people responsible," the education minister said.
NTA proposes a re-test of 1563 students
Supreme Court took into record the statement of NTA that a re-test of 1563 students, who who were awarded 'grace marks' to compensate for the loss of time suffered while appearing for NEET-UG, will be notified today itself and it would likely be held on June 23 and results would be declared prior to June 30 so that counselling which is set to begin in July is not affected.
The apex court reiterated that the counselling will go on and they will not stop it. If the exam goes then everything goes in totality so nothing to fear.
The NTA is under criticism amid allegations of irregularities and inflation of marks in the crucial medical entrance exam. The matter reached the top court which said on Tuesday the sanctity of the NEET, 2024 has been affected.
The Education Ministry had last week set up a four-member panel to review the grace marks awarded to 1,563 students to compensate them for loss of time due to delay in starting examination at certain centres.
Asked about allegations of marks inflation which apparently led to 67 candidates scoring 720 out of 720, NTA DG Subodh Kumar Singh said 44 candidates received marks on account of revision of answer key of physics and six on account of loss of time. "Only two candidates who got grace marks have received 718 and 719 marks," he added.
According to NTA officials, the adjustments were aimed to address inconsistencies in NCERT textbooks "which led to getting the full marks for 44 candidates and revision led to increased marks for many candidates, contributing to the high number of perfect scores".
(With agencies inputs)
