NTA faced major backlash from students and parents after releasing NEET-UG 2024 results on June 4. Several legal challenges emerged, focusing on three main issues: the allocation of grace marks to some students, allegations of a leaked question paper, and suspected irregularities at certain exam centers.
There have been calls for a thorough investigation and a possible exam retake.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated on Sunday that the “harshest punishment” would be given to those found guilty in the NEET-UG 2024 “scam”, assuring students and parents that the government is taking the matter seriously.
A senior government official told ToI, “The matter is currently in the courts. The education ministry and NTA are also examining the details. However, once the issue is resolved based on the investigations and court orders, significant reforms will be initiated in all aspects of conducting these crucial examinations.” The official added that a committee is likely to be formed by the ministry of education to recommend these reforms.
NTA NEET fiasco
There were allegations of irregularities in medical entrance exam NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) — conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad — and inflation of marks.
On the grace marks awarded to some students, the NTA said a few petitions were filed by the NEET-UG before the high courts of Punjab and Haryana, Delhi and Chhattisgarh raising concerns of loss of exam time during the conduct of the test at some exam centres.
On analysing CCTV camera footage, it was ascertained that the integrity of the examination was not compromised, the official asserted.
Several aspirants of the medical entrance exam have alleged inflation of marks which led to a record 67 candidates bagging the top rank, including six from the same exam centre in Haryana.Denying the allegations, the NTA said the changes made in NCERT textbooks and grace marks for losing time at the examination centres are some of the reasons behind the students scoring higher marks.
Detailing the reason behind inflation of marks, the NTA said it received representations on the matter.
The NTA had on May 5 claimed that the distribution of wrong question papers at an exam centre in Rajasthan led to some candidates walking out with the papers. The agency had denied any leak of the question paper.
A day later, the NTA had reiterated that the reports claiming question paper leak in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG are “completely baseless and without any ground”, and every question paper has been accounted for.
NTA and other exams
As of November 2023, the NTA registered over 1.23 crore candidates for various exams, making it one of the largest exam-conducting agencies globally. It follows China’s Gaokao, which registered 1.29 crore candidates in 2023.
For NEET-UG 2024, over 24 lakh candidates registered. Additionally, 14.7 lakh students registered for the Joint Entrance Examination (Main), and more than 13.4 lakh for the CUET-UG 2024. Beyond these major undergraduate entrance exams, NTA also conducts other exams, including the National Council of Hotel Management Joint Entrance Exam (12,738 candidates), the Admission Test for Diploma in Sports Coaching (ATDSC) 2024 for the National Institute of Sports (NIS), the Graduate Aptitude Test – Biotechnology (GAT-B), the Common Management Admission Test, the Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test, the All India Sainik School Entrance Exam, and Swayam examinations, among others.
Pradhan told TOI, “Govt will thoroughly review what happened in NEET and take steps to reform both the examinations and NTA. NTA is evolving and not perfect; we need to strengthen it further. We are concerned about the future of lakhs of young students.”
NTA’s ambit
NTA conducts some of the most competitive and high-profile entrance exams, including NEET-UG and PG, CUET-UG and PG, and JEE (Main). It also oversees the National Eligibility Test (NET) for UGC, recruitment exams for the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, Navodaya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Central Universities, and Military Nursing Service, among others.
Government sources indicate that planned reforms will touch on administrative, operational, and logistical areas, such as exam centers and question papers. Capacity building within the agency is also anticipated.
With inputs from ToI
