New Delhi: Amid the ongoing controversy over alleged irregularities in NEET 2024, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged in the Lok Sabha recently that the Medical entrance test NEET is not a professional exam but a ”commercial” one that has been designed for the rich and not for meritorious people.
According to PTI report, Gandhi claimed that there have been 70 paper leaks in seven years but the government was not allowing a discussion on this because it is not interested in the future of students.
The Congress leader’s remark came during a discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address to a joint sitting of Parliament.
“NEET students spend years and years preparing for their exams. Their families support them financially and 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 the rich and not for meritorious people,” he said, quotes PTI.
“I have met with several NEET students. Every single one of them tells me that the exam is designed to create a quota for rich people and a passage for them into the system… it is not designed to help poor students,” Gandhi claimed.
He further alleged that professional exams have been converted into commercial exams.
“NEET is not a professional exam… it is a commercial exam. A student can be top NEET, can be an excellent student, but cannot go to a medical college if he or she doesn’t have money.
“The entire exam has been made (customised) for rich students, you have centralised the entire exam… thousands of crores of rupees are being made… there have been 70 paper leaks in seven years,” Gandhi added.
In the line of fire over the alleged irregularities in NEET and PhD entrance NET, the Centre last week removed National Testing Agency DG Subodh Singh and notified a high-level panel headed by former ISRO chief R Radhakrishnan to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the NTA.
While NEET is under the scanner over several irregularities, including alleged leaks, UGC-NET was cancelled as the ministry received inputs that the integrity of the exam was compromised. Both matters are being probed by the CBI.
Two other exams — CSIR-UGC NET and NEET PG — were cancelled as a pre-emptive step.
“We requested for discussion for one day on NEET because we want to stand with the government and resolve it… there has been an institutional failure, government says no discussion.
“We want to give the message to students that the NEET issue is important for Parliament. So, to send this message, we want Parliament to discuss this,” Gandhi added.
This year’s NEET UG 2024 exam was mired in controversies after a paper leak scam came to light. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that around 13 people, including four examinees and their family members, were arrested in Bihar for their alleged involvement in the paper leak of the NEET-UG exam. Patna police sources had previously claimed that the NEET-UG question papers along with their answers were provided to around 20 aspirants a day before the date of the exam i.e. May 5, 2024.
Then, the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police, which took over the investigation, revealed that the brokers involved in the NEET paper leak scam took between Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh from each of the medical aspirants in exchange for giving them the question paper of the NEET UG 2024 question paper ahead of the examination.
Multiple pleas have been filed before the High Courts and the Supreme Court seeking an investigation into the alleged paper leak scam. Some of the pleas demanded the scrapping of the NEET UG 2024 exam and holding a retest. Meanwhile, during the case proceedings, NTA earlier decided to withdraw the grace marks awarded to 1563 candidates and hold an optional retest for those candidates. Those who did not opt for the retest were allowed to retain their original marks, without the grace marks.
The matter is now being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Central Government on June 22, 2024, handed over the charge of investigating in the alleged irregularities in the NEET UG 2024 examination to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“Certain cases of alleged irregularities / cheating / impersonation / malpractices have been reported. For transparency on the conduct of the examination process, the Ministry of Education, Government of India after a review has decided to entrust the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a comprehensive investigation,” the Ministry of Education stated in a release.
Earlier, while considering the NEET-related pleas, the Supreme Court had refused to defer the counselling/seat allotment process scheduled to commence on July 6. However, the bench had orally observed that the admissions would be subject to the final outcome of the petitions and if the exams were set aside, the counselling would get invalidated consequentially.
The Top Court had also expressed its concern over the alleged discrepancies in the NEET UG 2024 exam. The Court had noted that even ‘0.001& negligence’ in conducting the NEET-UG 2024 exams would be looked into with all seriousness considering the immense labor put in by the candidates for the prestigious examination.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that recently two candidates Kritika Garg and Priyanjali Garg approached the Apex Court opposing the proposal to cancel the NEET exam and hold a retest. Hailing from Meerut, these candidates secured Rs 705 and 690 marks respectively.
Approaching the Apex Court bench, they argued that students who have prepared for years should not be put to the trouble of appearing in the exam again. These applicants further contended that holding a retest for the NEET UG 2024 exam would not only be “unfair” to most students but would also cause hardship to their families.
Also Read: Scrapping NEET 2024 for Mischief of a Few would be Unjust: 2 Candidates File Application before Supreme Court
