News Analysis India

Tag: NTA

  • Video: CBI Team Probing NTA Paper Leak Case Attacked By Mob In Bihar’s Nawada; 4 Arrested |

    A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team conducting searches related to the UGC-NET paper leak case was attacked by a mob of 300 individuals in Bihar’s Nawada earlier today. As the CBI took over the ongoing probe regarding the allegations of ‘paper leaks’ in NEET-UG examinations, the team reached Nawada in an attempt to carry out the investigation.

    The residents of Kasiyadih village attacked the CBI, mistaking it for a hoax, and damaged vehicles. Four individuals were arrested in relation to the incident.

    The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered FIR on Sunday concerning alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG medical entrance exam held on May 5. This follows the Centre’s announcement that the investigation would be transferred to the CBI. The agency is now taking steps to assume control of the investigations and FIRs from other states related to the case.

    This is a developing story.

    VIDEO | A CBI team, probing the UGC-NET paper leak case, was attacked in Bihar’s Nawada earlier today. More details awaited.

    (Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvqRQz)

    (Source: Third Party) pic.twitter.com/DccOYgnVaD


    — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 23, 2024

  • Supreme Court Seeks Centre, NTA Response On Petitions Calling For NEET-UG 2024 Cancellation |

    NEET-UG Controversy: The Supreme Court on Thursday sought response from the Centre, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and others regarding petitions calling for the cancellation of NEET-UG 2024 and a court-supervised investigation into alleged irregularities in the medical entrance examination. 

    A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti also sought response from the involved parties regarding separate requests made by the NTA to transfer some ongoing cases from the high courts to the apex court. 

    These pleas filed by NTA and other petitioners is scheduled for hearing on July 8. 

    One of the petitions, filed by 20 students who appeared for the medical entrance exam filled a petition requesting for the NTA for re-conduction of examination. 

    Earlier on June 18, during the hearing of separate pleas on NEET-UG 2024 examinations, the apex court said that even if there was a ‘0.001% negligence’ on anyone’s part, it will be investigated. 

    Last week, while addressing separate petitions concerning issues with NEET-UG 2024, the Supreme Court requested responses from the Centre and the NTA regarding a plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into allegations of a question paper leak and other exam irregularities. 

    The NTA conducts all India pre-medical entrance exam along with several other important and entrance level tests. The exam was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres with 24 lakh candidates appearing for it. 

    On June 19 the NTA announced the cancellation of UGC-NET exams due to concerns regarding ‘integrity compromise.’  

    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.

    (Based on inputs from PTI)

  • ‘Even If 0.001% Negligence…’: Supreme Court Slams Exam Body NTA Over NEET Row |

    NEET 2024 Exam Result Row Latest News: With the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) examination facing all-around criticism, the Supreme Court has slammed the National Testing Agency for the alleged irregularities and negligence in conducting the prestigious national exam for medical college aspirants. “Even if there’s 0.001% negligence on anyone’s part, it should be thoroughly dealt with,” said the top Court while hearing the petitions filed by aspirants challenging the exam result.

    The results for the medical entrance examination, taken by 2.4 million students on May 5, were announced on June 4. Allegations of an exam paper leak soon emerged, with 67 students reportedly achieving perfect scores of 720/720.

    The next hearing in the case is scheduled for July 8. The top court emphasized the importance of fairness in the examination process, stating, “As an agency conducting the examination, you must act fairly. If there is a mistake, acknowledge it and outline the corrective action. This approach inspires confidence in your performance.”

    Grace marks were allegedly given to compensate for lost time at the exam centres. Numerous student organizations have protested against the alleged NEET irregularities, including incidents of incorrect question papers being distributed, Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets being damaged, and delays in sheet distribution.

    Last week, the National Testing Agency (NTA) informed the Supreme Court that the grace marks awarded to 1,563 candidates in the NEET-UG exam would be revoked, offering these candidates the opportunity to retake the exam on June 23. The results of the re-test are expected to be released before June 30.

    Candidates who opt not to retake the exam will have their original scores reinstated, minus the extra marks.

    Bihar police have arrested 13 people in connection with an alleged NEET paper -leak while the Gujarat Police have arrested some persons accused of compromising an entire exam centre in Bharuch.

  • DMK blames testing agency over NEET, slams BJP-led govt for being ‘spectator’

    Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK on Saturday accused the National Testing Agency of spoiling the sanctity of NEET and blamed the BJP-led government at the Centre for being a ‘spectator’ and backing coaching centres that earned in crores. Yet again, the DMK sought scrapping the national test, saying it alone would protect the sanctity of education sector.

    Referring to the Centre telling the Supreme Court days ago that the grace marks of 1,563 students would be cancelled, DMK’s Tamil mouthpiece ‘Murasoli’ said the BJP government would not have done this if the matter had not been taken to the apex court. Over the years, several irregularities have been happening in NEET and the BJP government did not take note of it, the daily in an editorial on June 15 alleged.

    The irregularities and scams that happened in ‘secret’ so far in the conduct of NEET was held in ‘open’ this year. Only to hide this, the test result that was scheduled to be released on June 14 was advanced to June 4, when the result of Lok Sabha polls was declared. However, the scam got exposed. “We have heard about grace marks, it will be one or two marks. But, how could 70 and 80 marks be termed grace marks? The NTA awarded full marks and this is national injustice.” The BJP government remained ‘servile’ to coaching centres that earned crores every month and it ‘established’ the ‘rule of corporates’ in the education sector too.

    Right from the beginning, Tamil Nadu and key political parties including the DMK have been opposing NEET and the Assembly passed a Bill to exempt the state from the purview of the exam and it was sent to the Centre to secure Presidential assent.

    “We (the state) have requested scrapping NEET or exemption to Tamil Nadu from the test.” The BJP government, however, rejected the staunch opposition as merely political. However, today, the students themselves have realised the ‘fraudulent’ aspects and the affected students approached the top court with a plea to cancel the May 5, 2024 National Eligibility cum Entrance Test and sought strong measures to prevent irregularities. “The Supreme Court itself said the sanctity of NEET-UG has been affected and ‘who spoiled the sanctity? it was the National Testing Agency and the BJP government at the Centre was a spectator.”

    On the whole, only abolishing NEET will be the permanent and fair solution to this problem and only then the sanctity of the education sector would be protected.

    On behalf of the NTA and the Centre, the same advocate appeared before the apex court and it makes it clear that there is no difference in stand whatsoever between the agency and the union government. Also, the Centre aided the agency in its decisions. Even after the grace mark scam was exposed, the union government does not appear to have realised its mistake.

    Referring to the retest on June 23 for students whose grace marks were withdrawn, the Dravidian party daily wondered about the nature of the outcome of the exam to be held again. “See the manner in which they (centre/agency) argue (in court) for the coaching centres that earn in crores.”

  • NEET UG Results: Congress Demands SC-Monitored Probe Into 2024 Exam ‘Irregularities’ |

    NEET UG 2024 Exam Result: The Congress on Friday accused the BJP of cheating young people and tampering with their futures on Friday, demanding a high-level investigation into “irregularities” in NEET for medical courses conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court. Paper leaks, test-rigging, and corruption, according to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, have become commonplace in many exams, including the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

    “Paper leaks, rigging and corruption have become an integral part of many examinations including NEET. The Modi government is directly responsible for this. For the candidates, appearing in the recruitment exams, then facing several irregularities, getting caught in the labyrinth of paper leaks, is playing with their future. BJP has cheated the youth of the country. 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 wrote in a Hindi post on X.

    A record 67 candidates, including six from the same exam centre, received the top rank in the NEET medical entrance exam due to alleged mark inflation, according to several applicants. The NCERT textbook modifications and the provision of grace marks for tardiness at the testing centre, according to the National Testing Agency (NTA), account for some of the students’ higher scores. The NTA, however, refuted any irregularities. Six of the 67 students who shared rank one came from the same Haryana examination centre, according to the results released by NTA on Wednesday night.

    Earlier, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticised the Modi government on Friday for what she described as anomalies in the NEET medical entrance exam and demanded that students’ “legitimate complaints” be looked into. The Congress party claimed irregularities have affected the future of around 24 lakh children. It said that the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the government should answer and also ensure accountability.

    NTA Issues Clarification Over Alleged Irregularities In NEET 2024 Results 

    The NTA provided a detailed explanation of the reason for the mark inflation, said that it had received complaints about time lost during the exam. “The normalisation formula, which was developed and approved by the Supreme Court in its Judgement dated June 13, 2018, was put into effect to address the time loss experienced by the NEET (UG) 2024 candidates after NTA took into consideration the cases and representations mentioned.

    “It was determined how much exam time was lost, and such candidates received grace marks in exchange. Therefore, the marks may also be 718 or 719,” the statement read. Speaking to news agency PTI, a senior NTA said that the question paper was created using a new NCERT textbook in response to questions regarding the claims of unclear grace mark implementation.”

    The entrance exam was held on May 5 at 4,750 locations in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. The NTA claimed on May 5 that the distribution of incorrect question papers at an exam centre in Rajasthan resulted in some candidates walking out with the papers. The agency denied any leaks of the question paper.

    A day later, the NTA reiterated that reports of question paper leaks in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG are “completely baseless and without any ground” and that every question paper has been accounted for.

  • Rajasthan: MBBS Student Caught As Proxy Candidate, 5 Others Detained |

    New Delhi: During the medical entrance exam on Sunday in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, authorities detained an MBBS student who was posing as a NEET aspirant, along with five accomplices. Investigations unveiled a scheme orchestrated by the student’s college peer, Ravi Meena, who allegedly extorted Rs 10 lakh from Rahul Gurjar, the genuine candidate.

    At the exam center, Abhishek Gupta was caught impersonating Rahul Gurjar by vigilant invigilators who promptly alerted the police. Gupta confessed during initial questioning that he had five associates stationed in a car outside the examination venue, Master Adityendra School under the Mathura Gate police station area. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Aklesh Kumar confirmed the detention of all involved parties and assured further investigative measures.

    Aside from Gupta, Meena, and Gurjar, police identified the other detainees as Amit, Dayaram, and Suraj Singh. Concurrently, at a center in Sawai Madhopur, candidates sitting for the NEET-UG exam raised complaints regarding the distribution of question papers. Allegations surfaced that candidates who selected English as their medium received papers in Hindi and vice versa.

    In response to parental outcry over alleged police brutality during protests, the National Testing Agency (NTA) issued a public statement acknowledging an “incorrect distribution” of question papers by the center superintendent. Sadhna Parashar, Senior Director at NTA, emphasized the organization’s commitment to fairness and announced proactive measures. Approximately 120 affected candidates are undergoing reexamination to ensure their academic pursuits remain unaffected by the incident.