Panel set up by Edu ministry to review grace marks given to NEET candidates

New Delhi: The National Testing Agency (NTA) stated on Saturday that the education ministry has formed a four-member panel to examine the grace marks given to more than 1,500 students, following claims of mark inflation in the NEET-UG medical entrance exam.

The NTA refuted any irregularities and stated that some of the factors contributing to the students' improved scores were the modifications made to the NCERT texts and the grace marks granted for losing time at the exam centres.

The issue also took a political turn with several parties raising concerns about the authenticity of the national exam for medical courses. The AAP demanded a Supreme Court-monitored SIT probe while the Congress alleged that paper leaks, rigging and corruption have become an integral part of many examinations. The party also accused the BJP of cheating youngsters and playing with their futures.

The Maharashtra government sought immediate cancellation of the exam, alleging that its results have caused injustice to the students from the state. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing affiliated to the RSS, demanded a CBI inquiry.

In the coaching hub of Kota in Rajasthan, a large number of NEET aspirants and their parents led by Allen Career Institute director Brijesh Maheshwari held a protest and tried to take out a candle march but called it off after assurance by the district collector. They demanded that the NEET exam be re-conducted.

There have been calls from several quarters for a re-exam alleging that the grace marks awarded to make up for the loss of time at six exam centres have led to the inflation of marks and tampered with the chances of other candidates.

These centres are from Meghalaya, Bahadurgarh in Haryana, Dantewada and Balodh in Chhattisgarh, Surat in Gujarat and Chandigarh.

The result of the medical entrance exam was announced on June 4 and thereafter aspirants have been alleging multiple issues, including irregularities in the test demanding a fresh examination.

Sixty-seven candidates had shared the first rank in the exam including eight from the same centre in Haryana. A record of more than 24 lakh candidates had registered for the exam this year.

"A high-powered committee has been set up to review the results of over 1,500 candidates. The four-member panel headed by a former UPSC chairman will submit its recommendations within a week and the results of these candidates might be revised," NTA Director General Subodh Kumar Singh said at a press conference here.

"The awarding of grace marks has not impacted the qualifying criteria of the exam and the review of results of the affected candidates will not impact the admission process," he added.

According to experts, the mark inflation in the NEET UG 2024 result is expected to make securing a spot in medical school this year more difficult. Some aspiring students have turned to online platforms to demand the cancellation of the results and a re-examination.

Asked about whether the exam will be re-conducted for certain students, the NTA DG said, it will be decided depending upon the committee's recommendations.

"The idea is to ensure that students who lost time or other students are not at any disadvantage," he said.

Singh denied any paper leak and irregularities in the exam and reiterated that the integrity of the crucial test had not been compromised.

The Congress in Kerala alleged that results have raised concerns about the authenticity of the national exam for medical courses, with many students casting doubt on the procedure.

"The Modi government is directly responsible for this. For the candidates appearing in recruitment exams, then facing several irregularities, getting caught in the labyrinth of paper leaks, is playing with their futures. The BJP has cheated the youth of the country," Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X on Friday.

"We demand that a high-level investigation should be conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court so that our talented students appearing in NEET and other exams get justice," he had added.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said the trends from the latest NEET results have once again vindicated the DMK on its stand opposing the exam and reiterated that the entrance test goes against social justice and federalism.

The NTA DG reiterated that the increase in cutoff reflects the competitive nature of the examination and the higher performance standards achieved by the candidates this year.

"The number of candidates who appeared in 2023 was 20,38,596 while the number of candidates who appeared in 2024 increased to 23,33,297. The increase in candidates naturally led to an increase in high scorers due to a larger pool of candidates," he said.

Explaining the rationale behind the awarding of grace marks, Singh said, the process has been completed using a formula devised and adopted by the Supreme Court in a 2018 judgement.

"The concerns raised by the candidates through the writ petitions and representations about loss of examination time were ascertained and 1,563 candidates were compensated for the loss of time, and the revised marks of such candidates vary from -20 to 720 marks. Among these, the score of two candidates also happens to be 718 and 719 respectively due to compensatory marks," the official added.

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 leaks in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG are "completely baseless and without any ground", and every question paper has been accounted for.

With PTI inputs