2024 NEET controversy

The 2024 NEET controversy was caused by multiple discrepancies that occurred in the conduct of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET-UG) 2024 examination. The examination is one of India’s biggest entrance examinations in terms of applicant numbers and is the sole nationwide examination conducted for admission in undergraduate medical programs. It is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The declaration of results sparked nationwide concern due to discrepancies including some candidates being awarded impossible scores and an unprecedented rise in the number of candidates scoring full marks. There were allegations of the use of unfair means and a suspected paper leak. Many candidates asked to be re-examined.

Background

See also: National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate)

Around 2.4 million candidates across India sat the examination on 5 May 2024. There had been a general trend of increased applicant numbers. The exams are undertaken for undergraduate admission to medical institutions. Per previous year statistics, out of 2.08 million students appearing nearly 1.14 million students were qualified.

Paper leak and use of unfair means

On 5 May 2024, the day of the NEET-UG examination, several social media posts alleged that the exam questions had been leaked in advance. The NTA denied these allegations but issued a public notice stating that an incorrect distribution of papers had occurred at the Girls Higher Secondary Model Vidya Mandir examination centre in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. Some students had left the examination centre despite the invigilators’ efforts to stop them. The notice emphasized that this was an "isolated incident" and that the integrity of the examination process at other centres had not been compromised. The NTA reconducted the examination for the 120 candidates who had taken the exam at the centre where the incorrect distribution of question papers had occurred.

Patna

The exam paper was allegedly leaked a day before the examination held in Patna, Bihar. On 5 June 2024, a few hours before the examination, Patna police were informed by a whistle-blower about a scandal involving the examination. The police registered a First Information Report (FIR) under Sections 407, 408, 409 (criminal breach of trust), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and arrested 13 people, including four examinees. On 11 May 2024, the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police took over the case after discovering the involvement of several organized gangs. The EOU found that some medical aspirants had paid large sums of money, ranging from ₹30 to ₹50 lakh, to brokers involved in the racket for obtaining the question paper before the examination. The arrested candidates told the police where they had obtained the question papers and confirmed that the questions in the actual NEET UG question paper were similar to the ones they had received from the broker the day before the examination.

Godhra

On 5 May 2024, the district education department of Panchmahal district raided a NEET UG exam centre at Jai Jalaram School in Godhra, Gujarat. During the raid, they seized a list of students from a school teacher who had allegedly promised to help these students. An FIR was filed by the Godhra Police on charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating, and criminal conspiracy. The police arrested five people in connection with the alleged cheating. According to the police, the teacher, who was also the deputy superintendent of the exam centre, had instructed the candidates not to answer questions they didn’t know, assuring them that he would answer them after collecting their answer sheets. The police also recovered ₹7 lakh from the teacher's car, who had reportedly charged ₹10 lakh from each student for filling their answer sheets. A few days later, it was revealed that 16 of at least 26 students whose names were on the list seized from the school teacher hailed from Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. Despite repeated requests by the investigating officer, the NTA did not provide the OMR sheets of the candidates involved in this case.

Result scrutiny

The results of the examination were declared on 4 June 2024, ten days earlier than originally scheduled, coinciding with the publication of the 2024 Indian general election results. A total of 67 students achieved perfect scores, a significantly higher number than in previous examinations, which raised controversy. The NTA clarified that the increase in top scorers was due to 44 of the 67 students incorrectly answering a physics question but still being awarded marks because of an error in an older version of the NCERT textbook. The NTA awarded these marks after more than 10,000 students challenged the answer key released prior to the results.

Several examinees received scores of 718 or 719, which students argued was mathematically impossible under the exam marking scheme. The NTA later clarified that 1,563 examinees, including six top scorers from the same center, were awarded compensatory marks for lost time. The NTA awarded these marks based on a normalization formula established by the Supreme Court of India in a 2018 judgment. Examinees at some centers in Haryana, Delhi, and Chhattisgarh complained that they were given less than the allotted time to complete their examination and filed writ petitions before the High Courts of Punjab & Haryana, Delhi, and Chhattisgarh. However, after the intervention of the Supreme Court, the NTA decided to withdraw the grace marks and hold the examination again for those 1,563 candidates on 23 June 2024. Out of these, 813 students took the retest.

Legal proceedings

Multiple applications have been filed with the Supreme Court of India asking for a re-examination in light of the allegations. The Supreme Court denied the petition to suspend the publishing of NEET-UG test results.

A separate petition was filed at the Delhi High Court, challenging the changes to the answers key.

Additionally, a public interest litigation questioning the reason behind the odd marks of 718/720 and 719/720, was raised at the Calcutta High Court. A separate PIL case requested a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into the matter.

On 8 June 2024, at a press conference, the NTA announced the Education Ministry would set up a four-member panel to reanalyse the supposedly awarded grace marks to 1,563 candidates.

Response

Following the announcement of the exam results, hashtags protesting the results began trending on social media, as well as students calling for an investigation into the examination process and urging a re-examination.

Several public educators and educational technology companies raised media debates and questioned the authenticity of the exam. Indian political party leaders alleged rigging and corruption and demanded probes into the exam process. Indian National Congress party leader Priyanka Gandhi questioned the government's ignoring of student complaints.

The president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee's media department, Mukesh Nayak, alleged in a press conference that the NTA had committed a bigger scam than the Vyapam scam and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe.

On 28 June 2024, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, upon bringing up the controversy in the Lok Sabha, had his microphone muted by Speaker of the Lok Sabha Om Birla, as alleged by the Indian National Congress.

NTA

The NTA investigated allegations of a paper leak prior to the exam, and issued a public notice, citing them to be "completely baseless and without any ground".

The NTA issued an official clarification notice dated 6 June 2024, refuting suspicions of a paper leak and justified the early results declaration, claiming it was not timed to coincide with the Lok Sabha elections.

The NTA's responses resulted in further anger and questioning from students and media outlets, who called the procedure a cover-up or a scam. On 22 June 2024, news outlets and media declared the postponement of NEET-PG exam from its prior date after probed irregularities.