India to re-conduct medical entrance exam over scam

The Supreme Court of India on Thursday directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to re-conduct the medical entrance examination (undergraduate) for as many as 1,563 students on doubts about a “scam.”

The re-examination would be conducted on June 23, and the result would be declared within a week.

Over 2.3 million students had appeared for the medical entrance examination (undergraduate), or the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG), held on May 5.

The direction came after a petition was filed before the apex court alleging irregularities in the way “grace marks” were given to a section of students.

NEET-UG result was declared on June 4.

A total of 67 students had scored 100 per cent marks, out of whom as many as seven students had attempted the test at the same examination-center in the northern state of Haryana.

Students raised doubts immediately after the result was announced, particularly when it was discovered that some students had scored 719 and 718 marks out of 720.

According to the protesting students, such scores were not practically possible, as four marks are given for every correct answer and one mark is deducted for every wrong answer.

Protests by students were witnessed across the country after the result.

Following the protests, the NTA had stated that “grace marks” were given to some students whose time was wasted because of some technical errors while distributing the question paper.

The country’s Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday denied the possibility of paper-leak.

 “There is no evidence of a paper leak in NEET-UG. The allegations of corruption in NTA are not found, it is a very credible body,” he said.

On the other hand, the main opposition party the Indian National Congress demanded a probe in the matter.

INC President Mallikarjun Kharge posted on X that “Grace-marks was not the only problem in NEET exam. There was rigging, question paper was leaked, corruption took place.”

Alleging a “nexus” between the examination centers and coaching centers, he said, “The Congress party demands a Supreme Court-led independent probe in the NEET scam, and those guilty should be punished.” (Xinhua/NAN)