The Centre announced on Thursday that the grace marks awarded to 1,563 students who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 will be cancelled, following a Supreme Court directive. These students will have the option to reappear for the exam, according to the ruling by a vacation bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.
The Supreme Court was informed of this decision after reviewing recommendations from a subsequent committee formed to address the issue. The committee advised that the scorecards of the 1,563 candidates should be cancelled, necessitating a re-exam. “The results of those who don’t wish to reappear will be based on their actual marks without compensatory marks,” the court stated.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has committed to notifying the students about the re-test by Thursday, with the re-exam likely to be scheduled for June 23. The results are expected to be released before June 30 to ensure the counselling process, set to begin on July 6, remains on track.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan emphasized the government’s commitment to addressing the irregularities. “The government had put forward its stand before the SC today. It’s about 1,500 students. The government is taking this issue seriously,” he said, assuring that action will be taken against those responsible for the discrepancies.
Alakh Pandey, CEO of Physics Wallah and a petitioner in the case, expressed concerns about the NTA’s credibility. “NTA accepted in front of the Supreme Court that the grace marks given to the students were wrong. This created dissatisfaction among the students. The question is if the NTA has other discrepancies that we are unaware of. So, there is a trust issue with NTA,” Pandey remarked. He also noted ongoing concerns regarding potential paper leaks.
The Supreme Court’s vacation bench had previously issued a notice to the NTA on June 11, following a plea by ten NEET candidates alleging paper leaks and other irregularities. Despite the ongoing investigation, the bench declined to postpone the counselling of qualified candidates.
The NEET-UG 2024, held on May 5 for approximately 24 lakh students, saw results announced on June 4, ahead of the expected date of June 14. Suspicion arose when the results revealed that 67 candidates, including six from the same or nearby testing centres, achieved a perfect score of 720 marks.
