NEW DELHI: Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday accused the Congress of playing with the future of the country for its petty politics after the grand old party alleged corruption and rigging in the NEET-UG exam.
The opposition sparred with the government as the medical entrance exam, which was taken by over 24 lakh candidates, became a centre of controversy over allegations of several irregularities including award of grace marks to some students.This led to a record 67 candidates sharing top rank with perfect score.
With the results of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) announced on June 4 kicking up a storm, the National Testing Agency (NTA) told the Supreme court that the decision to award grace marks to 1,563 candidates in NEET-UG for admission to MBBS, BDS and other courses have been cancelled and the students would be given the option to take a retest on June 23. If the candidates do not wish to take up the retest then their earlier marks, minus the grace marks, will be given for the purposes of the results, the testing agency said. Earlier, the apex court noted that the sanctity of NEET-UG, 2024 was affected but it refused to stay the counselling process for admissions.
Why were students awarded grace marks?
Students from at least six centres in Meghalaya, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Surat and Chandigarh had complained about the loss of time during the exams. At these locations, the students did not get the full 3 hours and 20 minutes to write the exam due to administrative reasons, such as the distribution of the wrong question paper, torn OMR sheets, or delay in the distribution of OMR sheets.
A committee formed by the NTA investigated the matter and chose to use the formula devised and adopted by the apex court in a 2018 judgement, to address the loss of time faced by candidates. The loss of time was ascertained and such candidates were compensated with grace marks.
Congress alleges rigging, paper leak, corruption
The Congress on Thursday again demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the NEET-UG exam issue and dropped hints that the matter will reverberate in the upcoming session of Parliament. The grand old party also sought the removal of the NTA director general and claimed that the BJP government’s attitude towards the ongoing demand for an inquiry into the examination is “irresponsible and insensitive”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the award of grace marks was not the only problem in the NEET-UG exam. “There has been rigging, papers have been leaked, corruption has taken place. The future of 24 lakh students appearing in the NEET examination is at stake due to the actions of the Modi government,” he alleged.
‘Opposition spreading lies without knowing facts’
Kharge’s charges evoked strong retort from the Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. He rejected allegations of paper leak or rigging and said there is no evidence to substantiate the opposition claims. He accused the opposition of spreading lies without knowing facts.
“The opposition is issueless, on such a sensitive issue the opposition is just spreading lies without knowing the facts. Congress is playing with the future of the country for its petty politics,” Pradhan said in a post on X.
“I want to remind the Congress that to prevent paper leak and to conduct a cheating-free exam, the central government passed the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act this year, which has many strict provisions. Congress should not be under misconception that if any nexus is found, no action will be taken against it. The provisions of this act will be implemented very carefully,” he added.
The education ministry had last week set up a four-member panel to review the grace marks awarded to 1,563 students to compensate them for “loss of time” due to delay in starting the examination at certain centres.
The panel is headed by former UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) chairman Pradeep Kumar Joshi and includes the National Medical Commission (NMC) secretary, besides others.
(With inputs from agencies)
The opposition sparred with the government as the medical entrance exam, which was taken by over 24 lakh candidates, became a centre of controversy over allegations of several irregularities including award of grace marks to some students.This led to a record 67 candidates sharing top rank with perfect score.
With the results of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) announced on June 4 kicking up a storm, the National Testing Agency (NTA) told the Supreme court that the decision to award grace marks to 1,563 candidates in NEET-UG for admission to MBBS, BDS and other courses have been cancelled and the students would be given the option to take a retest on June 23. If the candidates do not wish to take up the retest then their earlier marks, minus the grace marks, will be given for the purposes of the results, the testing agency said. Earlier, the apex court noted that the sanctity of NEET-UG, 2024 was affected but it refused to stay the counselling process for admissions.
Why were students awarded grace marks?
Students from at least six centres in Meghalaya, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Surat and Chandigarh had complained about the loss of time during the exams. At these locations, the students did not get the full 3 hours and 20 minutes to write the exam due to administrative reasons, such as the distribution of the wrong question paper, torn OMR sheets, or delay in the distribution of OMR sheets.
A committee formed by the NTA investigated the matter and chose to use the formula devised and adopted by the apex court in a 2018 judgement, to address the loss of time faced by candidates. The loss of time was ascertained and such candidates were compensated with grace marks.
Congress alleges rigging, paper leak, corruption
The Congress on Thursday again demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the NEET-UG exam issue and dropped hints that the matter will reverberate in the upcoming session of Parliament. The grand old party also sought the removal of the NTA director general and claimed that the BJP government’s attitude towards the ongoing demand for an inquiry into the examination is “irresponsible and insensitive”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the award of grace marks was not the only problem in the NEET-UG exam. “There has been rigging, papers have been leaked, corruption has taken place. The future of 24 lakh students appearing in the NEET examination is at stake due to the actions of the Modi government,” he alleged.
‘Opposition spreading lies without knowing facts’
Kharge’s charges evoked strong retort from the Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. He rejected allegations of paper leak or rigging and said there is no evidence to substantiate the opposition claims. He accused the opposition of spreading lies without knowing facts.
“The opposition is issueless, on such a sensitive issue the opposition is just spreading lies without knowing the facts. Congress is playing with the future of the country for its petty politics,” Pradhan said in a post on X.
“I want to remind the Congress that to prevent paper leak and to conduct a cheating-free exam, the central government passed the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act this year, which has many strict provisions. Congress should not be under misconception that if any nexus is found, no action will be taken against it. The provisions of this act will be implemented very carefully,” he added.
The education ministry had last week set up a four-member panel to review the grace marks awarded to 1,563 students to compensate them for “loss of time” due to delay in starting the examination at certain centres.
The panel is headed by former UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) chairman Pradeep Kumar Joshi and includes the National Medical Commission (NMC) secretary, besides others.
(With inputs from agencies)