• S.K. Nigam

Sir Speaker Sir…. NEET students spend years and years preparing for their exam. Their family supports them financially, emotionally and the truth is that NEET students today do not believe in the exam. Because they are convinced that the exam is designed for rich people not meritorious people. I met a number of NEET students, every single one of them tells me that exam is designed to create a quota for rich people and to create passage for them into the system and is designed not to help poor student. Now they are very scared of this, they study for months, not knowing whether the exam will be held or not. Even if they pass, where will the money come from? On the 5th day of the recent session of the Indian Parliament, the Leader of Opposition in the Parliament, Shri Rahul Gandhi expressed his opinion on the important issue of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2024 and also demanded a day-long discussion on this topic in the House. His speech not only highlighted the flaws in the current structure of NEET, but also underlined the urgent need for comprehensive reforms in India’s medical education system. At a time when numerous questions are being raised about the NEET UG exam results, the role of NTA and the Vyapam-like functioning of its executive Subodh Kumar Singh, on which the Modi government and minister Dharmendra Pradhan seem to be avoiding the issue, Rahul Gandhi has come forward and assured the entire country that such a large number of students and parents cannot be left so troubled.

24 lakh candidates participated in this year’s exam but this is the concern of every student and his/her parents who hope that studying hard will lead to a good future and equal opportunity to get admission in a good college. Although every candidate wants to get admission in a good college but the problem is that firstly there is a shortage of good colleges in the country and secondly even in the good colleges there is a huge shortage of seats. In such a situation, if the exam being conducted for these seats is also not conducted in a fair manner, then what hope is left for the future of the country! It is a matter of great sadness and shame that the paper leak from the application of this NEET 2024 exam and ultimately the discrepancy in the result forced three of our candidates to commit suicide. The height of shamelessness is that even in the light of all these incidents, the responsible minister of the Modi government Dharmendra Pradhan publicly declares that neither any paper has been leaked in this exam nor there has been any discrepancy in the marking. 25. It is worth noting that the problem started from the time of application for the exam when NTA started registration for the exam on 09 February 2024 and gave a time of 1 month, the last date of which was 09 March 2024. But on 09 March this period is extended for a week, which can be considered as an opportunity for the students who could not register due to being busy in studies to some extent. But then a month later, for the exam to be held on 5 May, the application window was opened on 9th and 10th April before the 24th and 25th day, after which a correction window was opened once again from 11th April to 15th April. In our country and especially in BJP ruled states, leakage of competitive exam papers and mismanagement in exams has become a common thing in the last few years. According to a report by The Indian Express, 41 different paper leaks have happened in the last 5 years due to which the lives of 1.4 crore job seekers of the country have been ruined. In the same NEET case, Patna Police arrested 13 people last month for leaking the paper, who admitted that they were extorting 30 to 50 lakh rupees from each candidate for the leaked paper. The matter does not end here, later the whole racket was busted in Prime Minister’s home state Gujarat in which the owner of an education consultancy was extorting 10 lakh rupees from each candidate in connivance with a school teacher and a BJP leader. In such a situation, unhappy and worried students are protesting against these paper leaks but as usual, these protests are being ignored by the Modi government and the Godi media due to which their frustration and disappointment is increasing.

NEET exam is a multiple choice question test in which questions are asked from four different subjects namely Physics, Chemistry, Zoology and Botany. There are 50 questions from each subject out of which 45 questions have to be answered. Thus, out of 200 questions, 180 questions have to be answered. As a result, 04 marks are awarded for every correct answer and -01 mark is awarded for every wrong answer. The time allotted for the exam is 3 hours 20 minutes and the maximum marks are 720. Now the scam starts to show from here when in the history of medical exams till date, the highest number of 67 candidates get All India Rank 1 by securing 720 out of 720 marks. Whereas statistics show that in 2023,only two students scored 720 out of 720 marks, in 2022,no student scored 720 marks, in 2021,only three students scored 720 out of 720 marks. Out of the 67 students who got 720 marks, 44 students are such who have been given grace marks due to two answers to a question in Physics and 06 students are such who have been given grace marks due to lack of time. This entire process is under suspicion because students believe that in no way can a candidate get 717, 718 or 719 marks because 05 marks are deducted for every wrong answer, so according to this, instead of 717, 718 or 719, 715 marks should have been given. Despite all this, it is strange that in a prestigious institute like AIIMS Delhi which has only 56 MBBS seats, this is the first time that all the toppers will not be able to get admission. Questions are also being raised about the claims of many coaching centers in which coaching institutes have claimed that they have 21 to 27 toppers. Not only this, six consecutive toppers of a coaching center located in Jhajjar, Haryana are also included, whose topping is raising the suspicion of a scam.

Finally, the result of the exam which was to be declared on June 14, was declared by NTA 10 days earlier on June 04, amidst the noise of the results of the parliamentary elections and amid the apprehension and controversies of such a big scam, NTA is patting its own back by saying that the result was declared within 30 days of the exam. Looking at this entire episode, it seems to be a very big scam similar to the Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh. Similarity of systemic brokerage, leakage of question papers, politics and bribe can be seen in both the examination processes. It is very important to get an impartial investigation done by JPC so that the culprits of this scam can be punished and the victim student families can get justice. It is important for policy-makers, teachers, students and parents to cooperate in maintaining the sanctity of talent and ensure that every candidate gets a fair opportunity to fulfil his dreams in a legal manner. By learning lessons from NEET 2024 and implementing strong reforms, India can strengthen its medical education system and maintain the highest standards of integrity and transparency in national entrance exams.

The Author is a writer and Political Analyst