NEET Row: Over 1,500 Students To Appear For Retest Today, Oppn Attacks Centre Over Paper Leak — Top Points

NEET Row: As the row over the examination escalates, 1,563 candidates are set to appear for a NEET-UG retest today. 

NEET Row: Amid the row over the alleged malpractices in the conduct of the NEET examination, the NEET-UG retest for 1,563 candidates is set to be held on Sunday. According to a senior National Testing Agency (NTA) official, the officials of the NTA and Union education ministry officials will be present at the examination centers.

The retest for the medical entrance exam is being conducted after the agency withdrew grace marks awarded to students who were compensated for loss of time due to delay in the start of examination at six centers in Meghalaya, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, and Chandigarh, as reported by news agency PTI.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry on Saturday announced that the NEET-PG Entrance Examination, scheduled to be held on June 23, has been postponed. 

The Congress has cornered the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government over the postponement of the NEET-PG exam. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday over the postponement of the NEET-PG, saying it was yet "another unfortunate example that the education system has been ruined.".

NEET Examination Row: Here Are Top Points

1) The Central Government has handed over the probe into alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam 2024 to the Central Bureau of Investigation, seeking a comprehensive investigation. "National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted the NEET (UG) Examination on 5th May 2024 in OMR (Pen and paper) mode. Certain cases of alleged irregularities / cheating / impersonation / malpractices have been reported," an official statement by the government read. 

2) The Union Health Ministry said on Saturday that the NEET-PG exam has been postponed, as a precautionary measure in the wake of recent allegations on the integrity of certain competitive exams. The fresh date of this examination will be notified at the earliest.

3) The government sacked NTA chief Subodh Kumar and replaced him with IAS (Retd) Pradeep Singh Kharola, who will now helm the exam body. Kharola has been given additional charge of the post of Director General, NTA, Ministry of Education.

4) On Saturday, the Bihar Police detained six people from Deoghar district in Jharkhand over alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET, PTI reported citing an official. "The Bihar Police gave us a tip-off. On our identification, they were taken into custody. All the suspects have been taken to Bihar," SDPO (Deoghar Sadar) Ritvik Srivastava said, according to PTI. On Friday, sources told ABP News that the question paper was leaked from an examination centre in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh.

5) The Central Government notified the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, on Friday. It is an anti-paper leak law for examinations for central recruitment and entrance into central educational institutions. The act aims to curb the use of unfair means in public examinations and common entrance tests held across the country.

6) After the Central Government notified a law aimed at preventing the use of unfair means in competitive exams, Congress took a jibe at the Centre over the law, calling it "damage control to deal with scams".

7) Congress leader Jairam Ramesh stated that the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, was implemented by the NDA government after several "scams".

8) The NEET-UG row, which erupted due to the alleged irregularities in the results and reports of paper leaks, led to protests from several opposition political parties and student associations, including Congress.

9) The Congress held a protest march against the BJP in Ambala on Saturday over alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 examination. According to PTI, the protesters, led by party leader Chetan Chauhan gathered outside the Ambala district office of the BJP and locked its main gate.

10) A large number of candidates who appeared in the NEET exam also participated in the protest march and raised slogans against the government, according to party leaders.

11) Opposition parties have also claimed irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG, the results of which were announced by the NTA on June 4.

12) On Friday, the June edition of the Joint Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (CSIR-UGC-NET) was postponed due to unavoidable circumstances. On Wednesday, UGC-NET was cancelled following input that the exam's integrity was compromised.

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