Several aspirants of the NEET 2024 medical entrance exam have alleged inflation of marks, which led to an unprecedented 67 candidates securing the top rank, including six from the same exam center. Despite the uproar, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has denied any irregularities, attributing the higher scores to changes in the NCERT textbooks and grace marks awarded for time lost at various examination centers.
The results, which were announced by the NTA on Wednesday evening, revealed that 67 students shared the rank one position, with six of them hailing from a single examination center in Haryana. This revelation prompted a wave of criticism and raised suspicions among students and political figures alike.
“After the NEET exam, now the NEET result is also in controversy. After the NEET results were declared, questions are being raised on six students from the same center getting 720 out of 720 marks. Apart from this, many other irregularities related to the NEET exam have also come to light,” the Congress party posted on X, highlighting broader concerns.
The Party criticized the handling of the examination process, stating, “First due to paper leak and now due to result error, the future of lakhs of youth of the country is getting ruined. It is clear that this government cannot get any paper done without leaking it. Sir claims to stop wars in foreign countries but he is unable to even stop paper leaks in the country.”
Explaining the reasons behind the inflation of marks, the NTA said it had received multiple representations raising concerns about the loss of time during the conduct of the NEET examination. “Such cases and representations were considered by NTA and the normalization formula, which has been devised and adopted by the Supreme Court, vide its Judgment dated 13.06.2018, was implemented to address the loss of time faced by the candidates of NEET (UG) 2024. The loss of examination time was ascertained and such candidates were compensated with grace marks. So, their marks can be 718 or 719 also,” the NTA stated.
When questioned about the unclear implementation of the grace marks, a senior NTA official revealed that the question paper was prepared using a new NCERT textbook. However, some students had old NCERT textbooks. “We received a representation on this issue as well, due to which NTA had to assign five marks to all students who had marked one of the two options. Because of this reason, the marks of a total of 44 students increased from 715 to 720, which resulted in an increased number of toppers,” the official explained.
The official further mentioned that a committee was formed to investigate the loss of time during the examination after multiple court cases and representations were received. The committee thoroughly reviewed the situation, confirming the loss of time and justifying the compensation with grace marks.
. “Therefore, the marks of students at some centers are high because it is likely they all benefited from grace marks,” the official added.
This situation has consequences beyond just the top scorers. According to experts, the mark inflation in NEET UG 2024 results is expected to make securing a spot in medical schools this year more difficult. Some aspiring medical students have voiced their concerns and taken to online platforms, demanding the cancellation of the results and a re-examination.
“Several students are raising some valid points. How come students with the same sequence roll numbers scored the same marks? This is a serious issue. We don’t want such doctors to serve our country. This must be investigated,” stated Anubha Shrivastava, a lawyer and president of the India Wide Parents Association.
One of the aspirants voiced his frustrations on X, saying, “67 students scoring 720 out of 720 marks in the results released after the NEET exam paper leak raises suspicion. This is playing with the future of lakhs of candidates of the country, due to which there is anger among the students. The government should conduct a high-level investigation.”
Nitish Rajput, another X user, pointed out that while NTA awarded grace marks according to the court order, students have argued that this sudden decision is unjust, as the agency has not mentioned any clear methodology for awarding these ‘grace marks.’ “Calls for transparency in the process have only grown louder. The controversy for the NTA is brewing as lakhs of students demand re-examination, citing lack of clarity in NTA’s explanations and have even pushed for the Supreme Court’s intervention. Grace marks given for lost exam time have raised concerns of fairness,” Rajput added.
The entrance exam was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad. On the same day, the NTA claimed that the distribution of incorrect question papers at an exam center in Rajasthan led to some candidates walking out with the papers. The agency, however, denied any leak of the question paper.
A day later, the NTA reiterated that the reports claiming a question paper leak in the NEET-UG medical entrance exam were “completely baseless and without any ground,” reassuring that every question paper had been accounted for.
In light of this ongoing controversy, the pressure mounts on both the NTA and governmental authorities to ensure the integrity of the examination process and address the concerns of the students and parents. The demand for transparency and a fair re-evaluation of the results continues to gain momentum, potentially leading to significant changes in how future examinations are conducted and evaluated.
