NEET Result 2024: Students' Legitimate Complaints Must Be Resolved Through Probe, Says Priyanka Gandhi

NEET UG 2024 Result: Several NEET aspirants have claimed that inflated marks resulted in a record 67 candidates achieving the top rank.

Priyanka Gandhi criticized the Modi govt over alleged irregularities in the NEET exam. ( Image Source :PTI Images )

New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticized the Modi government on Friday over alleged irregularities in the NEET medical entrance exam, urging an investigation to address students' "legitimate complaints."

Several NEET aspirants have claimed that inflated marks resulted in a record 67 candidates achieving the top rank, including six from the same exam center.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) denied any irregularities, attributing the higher scores to changes made in NCERT textbooks and grace marks granted for lost time at examination centers.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "First the NEET exam paper was leaked and now the students allege that there has been a scam in its results as well. Serious questions are being raised on 6 students of the same centre getting 720 out of 720 marks and many kinds of irregularities are coming to the fore." There are reports of many children committing suicide across the country after the results were announced, Gandhi said and added that this is very sad and shocking.

"Why is the government ignoring the voice of lakhs of students? Students want answers to legitimate questions related to the rigging in the NEET exam results," the Congress general secretary said.

Is it not the government's responsibility to resolve these "legitimate complaints" by conducting an investigation, Gandhi asked. 

पहले NEET परीक्षा का पेपर लीक हुआ और अब छात्रों का आरोप है कि इसके रिजल्ट में भी स्कैम हुआ है। एक ही सेंटर के 6 छात्रों को 720 में से 720 अंक मिलने पर गंभीर सवाल उठ रहे हैं और कई तरह की अनियमितताओं की बातें सामने आ रही हैं। दूसरी ओर, रिजल्ट आने के बाद देश भर में कई बच्चों के…

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) June 7, 2024

What NTA Said On Allegations Of Scam?

The National Testing Agency (NTA) clarified that the increase in cutoff scores and the number of top performers in the NEET-UG exam underscores the exam's competitive nature, affirming that its integrity remains intact.

"The increase in cutoff reflects the competitive nature of the examination and the higher performance standards achieved by the candidates this year," a senior NTA official said.

Regarding the grace marks awarded to certain students, the NTA stated that a few petitions were filed before the high courts of Punjab and Haryana, Delhi, and Chhattisgarh. These petitions raised concerns about the loss of exam time at some centers during the NEET-UG exam.

"The concerns raised by the candidates through the writ petitions and representations about loss of examination time was ascertained and 1,563 candidates were compensated for the loss of time, and the revised marks of such candidates vary from -20 to 720 marks. Amongst these, the score of two candidates also happens to be 718 and 719 respectively due to compensatory marks," the official added.

Upon analyzing CCTV camera footage, it was confirmed that the integrity of the examination was not compromised, the official said.