While more than 2,250 candidates scored ‘absolute zero’, the marks obtained by more than 9,400 aspirants were in the ‘negative’ range.
Several candidates from centres in Jharkhand’s Hazaribag, which has been under adverse glare following the leak of the NEET exam paper from one of the centres in the town, have also scored less than zero marks. Officials explained that a ‘zero’ score does not necessarily mean blank answer sheets were submitted or the questions were not attempted. “It is plausible that the candidate attempted some questions correctly and some questions incorrectly, which led to the negative score.”
In NEET-UG, four marks are awarded for correct answers, while incorrect answers lead to deduction of one mark. Unattempted questions do not result in any marks being awarded or deducted.
The results, released on the direction of Supreme Court, indicate that while candidates allegedly involved in irregularities have not performed well, some centres have a high concentration of well-performing students. Over 2,000 candidates from centres in Rajasthan’s Sikar, one of the popular coaching hubs, scored above 650 marks, while another 4,000 scored above 600 marks. Data for over 23 lakh candidates from 4,750 centres was released in drop-down menu format for each centre, rather than a cumulative format. Supreme Court is currently hearing several petitions regarding alleged irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG exam on May 5, which was held at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad, for more than 24 lakh candidates. The court ordered the results to be announced while masking the identities of aspirants to ascertain whether candidates appearing at allegedly tainted centres secured higher marks than those who wrote the exam elsewhere. The hearing will resume on July 22, with the court considering pleas seeking the cancellation, re-test, and a court-monitored probe into the allegations of malpractice in this prestigious exam.