NEET paper leak institutional failure of NTA, says Education Minister
On cancellation of the UGC-NET examination, Dharmendra Pradhan said the exam paper was leaked on Darknet
Amid opposition calls to re-conduct the NEET exam, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Thursday (June 20) isolated malpractices should not impact lakhs of students who rightfully cleared the exam. He announced a high-level panel to look into the functioning of the testing agency.
'Do not politicise'
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Pradhan also appealed to Opposition parties not to politicise the issue and said strict action would be taken against those found guilty, including officials from the National Testing Agency (NTA). He also said, "It's an institutional failure of NTA."
The high-level committee to review and improve the functioning of NTA would be notified soon, the minister said.
About the cancellation of the UGC-NET examination for selection of junior research fellows, assistant professors and PhD scholars, Pradhan said the exam paper was leaked on Darknet.
'Have faith in system'
"Let us have faith in our systems and no irregularities or malpractices will be tolerated by the government," he said.
The NEET examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates appeared for it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, saying the evaluation of the answer sheets got completed earlier.
Perfect scores raised suspicions
As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.
The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
(With agency inputs)
