Maharashtra govt alleges injustice to state students in NEET exam results; seeks its cancellation

PTI, Jun 8, 2024, 12:29 PM IST

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has sought immediate cancellation of the last month’s NEET exam, alleging that its results have caused injustice to the students from the state.

Several aspirants of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG), conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, have earlier alleged that inflation of marks has led to a record 67 candidates bagging the top rank, including six from the same exam centre in Haryana. The results of the exam were declared on June 4.

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.

Talking about the issue, Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif on Friday said, “The NEET exams were probably conducted after taking money. The results are such that no student of Maharashtra will get admission for the MBBS course in government or private college in the state.” He said parents of many students have approached him seeking to address the issue.

“This (the results) has caused injustice to Maharashtra and it must be immediately cancelled. We are going to tell NMC (National Medical Council) about it,” he said.

Mushrif said the government was even contemplating approaching the court over the issue.

NEET-UG is the qualifying entrance exam for admission to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS), Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS), Bachelor of Siddha Medicine and Surgery (BSMS), Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS), and Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS) and BSc (H) Nursing courses.

There are more than 80,000 MBBS seats in over 540 medical colleges in the country.

The Congress has earlier targeted the government over the issue.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday called for resolution of students’ ‘legitimate complaints’ through an investigation, “First the NEET exam paper was leaked and now the students allege that there has been a scam in its results as well. Serious questions are being raised on 6 students of the same centre getting 720 out of 720 marks and many kinds of irregularities are coming to the fore.” There are reports of many children committing suicide across the country after the results were announced, Gandhi said and asked, “Why is the government ignoring the voice of lakhs of students? Students want answers to legitimate questions related to the rigging in the NEET exam results.”

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin also opposed the NEET saying the entrance test goes against social justice and federalism.

“Issues such as question paper leaks, clustering of toppers at specific centres, and award of marks — which are mathematically impossible — under the guise of grace marks highlight the pitfalls of the current union government’s centralisation. These events emphasise the need to restore the pre-eminence of state governments’ and school education system’s role in determining criteria for professional course selection,” he said on X.