MHT-CET Cell Considers Allowing Candidates To Verify Answer Sheets Amid Allegations Of Faulty Scoring

Mumbai: After Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray alleged irregularities in the scores allotted to candidates appearing for MHT-CET, the state CET Cell said that it is mulling to allow candidates to check their answer sheets to verify marks. The government officials refuted allegations of faulty scoring.

The accusations come in the backdrop of two national-level exams – the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for medical courses and the National Eligibility Test for PhD and assistant professorship – facing scrutiny over claims of paper leak.

At a presser on Saturday, Cell Commissioner Dilip Sardesai said that the authority is considering a proposal to let the students compare their answers with the answer key over a two day-period – June 27 and 28 – after completing the technical formalities. The Cell informed that they have received complaints about scores from around 200 students and have resolved all their grievances. “There's a sense of fear among students and it's important that we relieve them of their anxiety,” said Sardesai.

Thackeray has cast aspersions on the results of some students, who claimed that they got fewer marks than they had expected based on the answer key provided by the Cell. He also alleged that many students who got similar marks were given different percentiles, while objecting to different question papers being given to the candidates in different batches. He demanded that the CET Cell release the aspirants' raw scores along with their percentiles.

The officials explained that it's possible for students, who took the exam in separate sessions, to get different percentiles despite the same score because the result of each session is calculated independently. A combined merit list is issued afterward. “This is not a new process and we have been following it for the last five years. In fact, the similar process is deployed for national-level tests such as the joint entrance exam. It has also been endorsed by the Bombay High Court in two cases,” said Director of Higher Education Shailendra Deolnakar.

The Cell also clarified that the answer key was finalised after incorporating suggestions from the candidates and the results were prepared according to the modified answer key.

MHT-CET is the state's largest common entrance exam for engineering and pharmacy courses. This year, nearly 6.75 lakh aspirants appeared for the computer-based test held between April and May. The results were declared on June 16.