New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday met some NEET aspirants at his residence, amid a furious row over alleged irregularities in the conduct of this year's medical entrance exam.
According to sources, the students raised issues such as the uncertainty prevailing over the fate of the exam which was held in May, delay in the counseling process and ultimately over the academic calendar.
While there has been demand for a break from various quarters, the Ministry of Education has maintained that the paper leak incidents were localized and that by canceling the exam in its entirety it cannot jeopardize the careers of thousands of candidates who They passed the exam fairly.
The matter also reached the Supreme Court, which on Thursday postponed until July 18 the hearing on the set of petitions requesting the cancellation of the exam and its new conduct. The petitioners also requested an investigation into the alleged malpractices.
The ministry informed the Supreme Court that IIT Madras conducted a data analysis of NEET-UG 2024 results which found that there was no indication of "massive negligence" nor a localized pool of candidates taking advantage of it and scoring marks. abnormally high. .
The government's claim assumes significance in view of the high court's observations on July 8 that it could order retest if there were large-scale malpractices in the conduct of the exam. The matter is being investigated by CBI.
More than 23.33 lakh students had taken the test on May 5 at 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad.
The Center and the NTA, in their earlier affidavits filed before the apex court, had said scrapping the exam would be "counterproductive" and would "seriously endanger" thousands of honest candidates in the absence of any evidence of large-scale violation of confidentiality.
The NTA conducts the National Eligibility and Entrance Test for Undergraduate Degree (NEET-UG) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
According to sources, the students raised issues such as the uncertainty prevailing over the fate of the exam which was held in May, delay in the counseling process and ultimately over the academic calendar.
While there has been demand for a break from various quarters, the Ministry of Education has maintained that the paper leak incidents were localized and that by canceling the exam in its entirety it cannot jeopardize the careers of thousands of candidates who They passed the exam fairly.
The matter also reached the Supreme Court, which on Thursday postponed until July 18 the hearing on the set of petitions requesting the cancellation of the exam and its new conduct. The petitioners also requested an investigation into the alleged malpractices.
The ministry informed the Supreme Court that IIT Madras conducted a data analysis of NEET-UG 2024 results which found that there was no indication of "massive negligence" nor a localized pool of candidates taking advantage of it and scoring marks. abnormally high. .
The government's claim assumes significance in view of the high court's observations on July 8 that it could order retest if there were large-scale malpractices in the conduct of the exam. The matter is being investigated by CBI.
More than 23.33 lakh students had taken the test on May 5 at 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad.
The Center and the NTA, in their earlier affidavits filed before the apex court, had said scrapping the exam would be "counterproductive" and would "seriously endanger" thousands of honest candidates in the absence of any evidence of large-scale violation of confidentiality.
The NTA conducts the National Eligibility and Entrance Test for Undergraduate Degree (NEET-UG) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
