Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said that allegations of corruption in the NEET UG exam are unfounded and there is no evidence of a paper leak. On controversies revolving around grace marks, Dharmendra Pradhan said, "Culprits will be punished. The model used for more than 1500 candidates was recommended by the court. Let the court's decision come. We will implement whatever the court decides."
The Government of India and the NTA are committed to providing justice to the students, he said.
The committee formed by the National Testing Agency informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that 1,563 students who were given grace marks will be given the option to take a re-test on June 23.
This decision comes in response to the controversy over a large number of NEET UG 2024 candidates achieving high scores, with 67 students securing a perfect score of 720/720. The four-member committee, headed by the former UPSC chairman, has discussed in its initial meetings the option of offering all 1,563 candidates a choice: either sit for a retest or accept their “non-normalised score.”
The Supreme Court accepted the NTA's proposal after confirming with the petitioners that they had no objections. The Supreme Court also ordered that all petitions alleging paper leaks and unfair means be tagged together and scheduled for a hearing on July 8. Additionally, the court sought the NTA's response on issues other than the compensatory marks.
While dictating the order, the court stated that it had been informed that the NTA committee decided to cancel the scorecards of 1,563 students and grant them the opportunity to take a retest. If they choose not to take the retest, their marks will be recalculated after deducting the grace marks awarded in the examination.
Advocate Balaji, appearing for one of the petitioners, told the court that he is satisfied with the cancellation and retest proposal. However, counsel Sai Deepak raised a concern, asking what about the students who did not approach the court but faced delays at the exam center.
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