In anticipation of the Supreme Court’s crucial hearing on the NEET-UG controversy, the Centre and National Testing Agency (NTA) acknowledged the allegations of irregularities and paper leak during the examination.
However, they have informed the court that cancelling the test is unnecessary, as only a “tiny” number of students were involved, and the interests of the 23 lakh students who took the examination honestly should not be compromised. The Centre and NTA, in separate affidavits submitted to the apex court, agreed that the impact of irregularities, cheating, impersonation, malpractices, and paper leak was limited and confined to a few centres in Patna and Godhra, and that the students involved did not gain the advantage they were seeking.
The NEET UG exam faced allegations of irregularities, including alleged paper leaks and questionable marking practices, which sparked widespread anger and protests across the nation. In response to this turmoil, certain students were directed to retake the NEET UG exam, and the NEET PG exam was postponed. Addressing concerns over potentially inflated scores due to the awarding of ‘grace marks,’ authorities opted to conduct a retest on June 23 for the 1,563 candidates affected by this matter.