Nation
Government open to fresh NEET-UG for all if Supreme Court issues orders
Ketan Narottam Tanna
Updated:20th Jun, 2024 at 7:07 AM

NEW DELHI: The Union Education Ministry is not averse to conducting a fresh round of the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG), subject to directives from the Supreme Court’s scheduled hearing on July 8.

An official source told this paper that the ministry is ready to organise a retest for all 24 lakh NEET-UG aspirants if the court gives the go-ahead.

Sources suggested that one potential approach is to not limit the retest to the 1,563 candidates who were given grace marks and open it to all the students who want to go for re-examination. The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the medical exams, informed the Supreme Court that retest for the over 1,500 students will be conducted on June 23 and the results will be announced by June 30. The court has not stalled the counselling process, which will begin from July 6.

When asked whether this would entail a comprehensive retest rather than a selective approach, sources acknowledged the possibility of a complete new exam if directed by the court. They also highlighted Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s “profound concern” regarding the NEET-UG controversy, underscoring his commitment to addressing it as a “top priority”.

“The minister’s main objective is to identify the root cause and rectify it as soon as possible,” a source said. This year’s exam posed a unique challenge: a record number of candidates got the perfect score on 720 on 720, significantly altering the ranking dynamics and intensifying competition for medical college admission, especially in government colleges.

Since the announcement of results on June 4, the NTA has come under severe criticism for alleged paper leaks, number of high rankings, discrepancies in the allocation of grace marks, fraudulent activities and other irregularities. Students, parents, educators and even medical associations have called for a retest and a CBI probe. Around 30 petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court on the matter, besides a large number of pleas in various high courts.

UGC-NET cancelled, CBI probe ordered

The education ministry on Wednesday proactively cancelled the UGC-NET exam following inputs that its integrity may have been compromised. The matter has been handed over to the CBI for probe. The schedule of the fresh exam will be announced later

SC issues notice to Centre, NTA on pleas for cancelling NEET- UG 2024
PTI
Updated:20th Jun, 2024 at 12:02 PM

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Thursday sought responses from the Centre, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and others on petitions seeking the cancelation of NEET-UG 2024, and a court-monitored probe into the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam.

A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti also sought responses from the parties on separate pleas filed by the NTA seeking the transfer of some pending petitions from the high courts to the apex court. The bench posted these pleas for hearing on July 8.

One of the petitions, filed by 20 students who appeared in the medical entrance exam, also sought a direction to the NTA and others to conduct the test afresh.

Also read:
Government open to fresh NEET-UG for all if Supreme Court issues orders
While hearing separate pleas concerning the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024 examination, the apex court had on June 18 said even if there was "0.001 per cent negligence" on the part of anyone in the conduct of the examination, it should be thoroughly dealt with.

The NTA conducts the all India pre-medical entrance test.

While hearing separate petitions raising grievances over the NEET-UG 2024, the apex court had last week sought responses from the Centre and the NTA on a plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations of question paper leak and other irregularities in the exam.

The examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates took it.