Explained: Why medical students are alleging anomalies in NEET UG-2024

Several aspirants of the medical entrance exam NEET have alleged inflation of marks which led to a record 67 candidates bagging the top rank, including six from the same exam centre.

Amid reports of paper leaks, last-minute grace marks for missed time, and inaccuracies in the NEET results for 2024, a number of medical applicants have begun to seek a retake of the NEET test.

The National Testing Agency (NTA), however, denied any irregularities and said the changes made in the NCERT textbooks and grace marks for losing time at the examination centres are some of the reasons behind the students scoring higher marks. The agency has strongly refuted any rumours of NEET UG 2024 question paper leaks. The NTA claimed that these reports are untrue and that the examination procedure was safe and impartial.

What are the irregularities that NEET aspirants and their parents have alleged?

The first and the major one is that 67 students have topped the exam as against mere 2 last year. Moreover, 8 candidates with the same sequence of roll numbers topped from one particular centre in Faridabad, Haryana. Six of them got 720 marks out of 720 while the remaining two got 718 and 719 marks out of 720.

A group of parents also alleged that the paper was leaked and began an online campaign demanding a re-examination for NEET UG 2024. They also expressed apprehensions about private coaching institutes being involved in paper leak. Their allegation gained credence with the arrest of 13 people by the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police in connection with paper leaks. After the arrests, the NTA held a re-exam for candidates who received different question papers at a Rajasthan exam centre.

In Gujarat, a criminal case was filed against three persons in Godhra district, including a school teacher who allegedly helped 6 candidates solve the NEET question paper for a payment of ₹10 lakh from each candidate. The police recovered ₹7 lakh that was paid to the teacher in advance by one of the candidates.

“Several students are raising some valid points. How come students with same sequence roll number scored the same marks? This is a serious issue. We don't want such doctors to serve our country. This must be investigated,” said Anubha Shrivastava, a lawyer and president of India Wide Parents Association.

What is the controversy surrounding grace marks?

The aspirants alleged that NTA claimed to have awarded grace marks according to the court order, but this sudden decision is unjust as the agency has not mentioned any methodology to award these “grace marks”.

“Calls for transparency in the process have only grown louder. The controversy for the NTA is brewing as lakhs of students demand re-examination citing lack of clarity in NTA’s explanations and have even pushed for the Supreme Court’s intervention. Grace marks given for lost exam time have raised concerns of fairness,” posted Nitish Rajput, an X user.

According to experts, the mark inflation in NEET UG 2024 result is expected to make securing a spot in medical school this year more difficult. Some aspiring students have turned to online platforms to demand the cancellation of the results and a re-examination.

What does NTA have to say on these allegations?

Detailing the reason behind inflation of marks, the NTA said it received representations raising concerns about the loss of time during conduct of the examination.

“Such cases and representations were considered by NTA and the normalisation formula, which has been devised and adopted by Supreme Court, vide its Judgment dated 13.06.2018, was implemented to address the loss of time faced by the candidates of NEET (UG) 2024.”

“The loss of examination time was ascertained and such candidates were compensated with grace marks. So, there marks can be 718 or 719 also,” it said in a statement.

Asked about the allegations of unclear implementation of grace marks, a senior NTA official told PTI that the question paper was prepared using a new NCERT textbook. However, some students had old NCERT textbooks.

“We received a representation on this issue as well due to which NTA had to assign five marks to all students who had marked one of the two options. Because of this reason, marks of a total of 44 students increased from 715 to 720, which resulted in an increased number of toppers,” the official said.