Amid row over alleged NEET-UG 2024 exam paper leak, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said there is no paper leak as no proof has been found.
“There is no paper leak, no proof has been found yet. A court-recommended model was adopted for around 1,560 students and a panel of academicians has been formed for the same,” he said at a press conference in Delhi.
The NEET-UG exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5 is surrounded by controversies after 67 students achieved perfect score of 720.
This was the first time in NTA’s history that so many students achieved a perfect score. Moreover, six of those students were from the same Haryana centre in Faridabad, which further raised the doubts about alleged paper leak.
Earlier today, the Supreme Court cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates and accepted the Centre’s suggestion to allow them to retake the exam. These students lost 30-40 minutes on the exam day after wrong set of questions was opened.
Pradhan assured students that the government is committed to providing justice to them.
“I want to assure the students and their parents that the Indian government and its instrument NTA are committed to providing justice to them in a way that is transparent and relieving for them. This time 24 lakh students have successfully taken the NEET examination,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress has slammed the ruling BJP-led NDA government and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the alleged paper leak.
“The Congress Party believes that the BJP government’s attitude towards the ongoing demand for an enquiry into the NEET exam is irresponsible and insensitive. We demand a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the entire scandal which has affected around 24 lakh students,” Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said at a press conference.
Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue, Gogoi said that the Opposition now have the strength to bring the government to its knees and make them accountable to students.
“Instead of paying attention to the NEET scam, PM Modi is busy attending oath ceremonies and going on foreign trips. Rest assured, the INDIA alliance will take up the cause of these students because that is our responsibility… Now the INDIA alliance has sufficient strength to bring the government to its knees and make them accountable to the students,” he said.
Questioning the early declaration of NEET-UG 2024 results, the Congress leader said, “It is a mystery why these results were declared on 4th June. It can only point that they knew there was a storm brewing and they wanted to avoid any discussions on the NEET results by declaring them on 4 June when the entire country would be talking about the election results.”
The NEET-UG 2024 exam results were initially scheduled to be announced on June 14 but the same was declared on June 4 due to faster evaluation process.