A day after the National Testing Agency said that it would reconduct the NEET-UG 2024 examination for 1,563 candidates who were given grace marks on June 23, aspirants continued to push for their remaining demands, with some marching to the Education Ministry asking for a retest.
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As Congress leaders also pointed out that grace marks were not the only issue with NEET 2024, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the NTA was committed to taking necessary action, following Supreme Court instructions, adding that the counselling process will be underway soon. NEET is the sole entrance test for undergraduate medical programmes in India.
“Facts related to NEET examination are in cognisance of Hon’ble Supreme Court. Central govt. will take all necessary actions for the well-being of students as per the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” Mr. Pradhan said in a post on X on Friday.
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‘Transparency needed’
Protesting candidates, however, insisted that the counselling process should not take place until their concerns are resolved. Around 20 aspirants and 20 parents under the banner of the Indian Foreign Medical Students (IFMS) marched from the Central Secretariat to the Education Ministry’s main offices in the capital on Friday afternoon.
In a letter to the Union government, IFMS called for a retest, a probe into alleged irregularities by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), strict action against involved officials and individuals, and transparency in the examination process.
“For greater transparency, the total number of questions attempted by each student, in total and categorized by subject, should be included on the OMR sheet. This must be duly verified by the invigilator to prevent any tampering or manipulation,” the IFMS said in its letter. It also called for a provision of extra time of 15 minutes for students to do the same.
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‘Retest for all’
Bhupendra Chaurasiya, a doctor and social activist who was part of the IFMS delegation along with NEET aspirants, said, “In our meeting with the Minister, we were told that the necessary steps will be taken following Supreme Court instructions. However, the counselling process is to take place soon. If counselling takes place before all the issues are addressed, students who made it via a backdoor will benefit and those who have spent 16 hours studying every day for years will suffer.”
Other aspirants also said that they would continue to protest until their demands were met. All India Students’ Association’s DU and JNU units, said in a statement, “The momentary relief provided to the applicants by the SC in scrapping away the ‘grace marks’ awarded to the applicants by NTA are not a solution to the loss of time and money suffered by the applicants. Justice can only be done once re-examination is conducted for all applicants of the exams.”
On Thursday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had pointed out that the issues with NEET 2024 extended beyond that of grace marks, claiming that there has been rigging, corruption, and a paper leak. In response to this, Mr. Pradhan had said that there was no concrete evidence of any such rigging.
More than 23 lakh students had appeared for the entrance test, of which an unprecedented 67 had gotten full marks, in comparison to the one or two who have achieved such a feat in previous years. This was followed by allegations of irregularities and inflation of marks, after which the testing agency admitted that grace marks were given for those who lost time. NEET aspirants have been protesting in the capital all week, from Jantar Mantar to the NTA office in Okhla, saying that their ranks have been impacted drastically by the mark inflation.