The National Testing Agency (NTA), which administers the nationwide exam for applicants to medical colleges, came under heavy criticism from the Supreme Court today due to concerns regarding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical colleges.
The Supreme Court declared, “It should be thoroughly dealt with if there is even 0.001% negligence on anyone’s part.”
While considering a number of petitions regarding purported exam irregularities, the Supreme Court stated that it expects the NTA to take “timely action” and that it is the agency’s responsibility to guarantee that all applicants receive fair treatment.
“As an agency which is conducting the examination, you must act fair. If there is a mistake, say yes, this is a mistake, and this is the action we are going to take. At least that inspires confidence in your performance,” a bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice SVN Bhatti told the NTA.
The Supreme Court also observed that the agency shouldn’t forget the efforts students put in to prepare for one of the toughest entrance exams in the country
“Imagine a person who has played fraud on the system becomes a doctor, he is more deleterious to the society. Children study hard to get through NEET” it added.
“The next hearing in the case will be held on July 8.
The NTA informed the Supreme Court last week that the grace marks awarded to 1,563 applicants in the NEET-UG exam would be removed, and that the applicants could retake the exam on June 23. The top court was informed that the retest results would be announced prior to June 30.
In the event that any of these applicants decided not to retake the exam, their previous score—minus the additional points—would be restored.
On June 4, the results of the medical entrance exam, which was administered to 24 lakh students on May 5, were released. Soon, rumors circulated that an exam paper had been leaked. Up to 67 pupils achieved a flawless score of 720/720.
A number of students purportedly received grace marks to make up for lost exam time.
Numerous student organizations have voiced their disapproval of the purported irregularities in the NEET, such as the distribution of incorrect question papers, the tearing of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets, or the delays in the sheet distribution.
