Amid the ongoing NEET controversy over alleged dispencies, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met some NEET aspirants on Thursday, July 11, 2024. He met the aspirants at his residence.
PTI reports that the students brought up concerns about the academic calendar, the delay in the counseling process, and the general lack of clarity surrounding the outcome of the May exam.
The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing on petitions requesting the cancellation and reconduct of the NEET-UG 2024 exam to July 18. The petitioners have also called for an investigation into alleged malpractices. According to PTI, the Ministry told the court that IIT Madras analysed the NEET-UG 2024 results and did not find any evidence of widespread cheating or unusually high scores among particular candidates.
The education ministry has argued that although there has been demand for a restest, the incidents of paper leaks were isolated, and by cancelling the exam altogether, it cannot endanger the careers of lakhs of candidates who passed the test with fairness.
In their previous affidavits submitted to the Supreme Court, the NTA and the Center stated that, in the absence of any evidence of a widespread breach of confidentiality, eliminating the exam would be "counterproductive" and "seriously jeopardize" lakhs of sincere applicants.
The statement from the government takes on more weight in light of the Supreme Court's July 8 observations that it could order a retest if widespread irregularities occurred during the exam's administration. The CBI is currently looking into the matter, reported PTI.
The NTA administers the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) to applicants for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other relevant programs at public and private universities around the nation. On May 5, more than 23.33 lakh students took the exam at 4,750 locations across 571 cities, including 14 international cities.
