Paper leak row: Govt refutes reports of NEET-UG counselling postponement

NEW DELHI: The health ministry on Saturday clarified that reports suggesting the postponement of NEET-UG counselling are inaccurate, as the counselling dates have not been officially announced yet. This clarification comes in response to earlier reports claiming that the NEET-UG counselling, originally scheduled for today, has been delayed without any new dates being provided.

The NEET-UG exam was marred by allegations of irregularities, including suspected paper leaks and questionable marking practices, which sparked widespread outrage and protests across the country.Consequently, some students were instructed to retake the NEET UG exam, and the NEET PG exam was rescheduled. To address concerns about inflated scores resulting from the allocation of 'grace marks,' the authorities decided to conduct a retest on June 23 for the 1,563 affected candidates. Among them, 813 opted to participate in the retest, aiming to secure scores that accurately reflected their performance.
Ahead of crucial hearing on NEET-UG in Supreme Court, the Centre and National Testing Agency (NTA) have acknowledged the allegations of irregularities and paper leak during the examination. However, they have informed the court that cancelling the test is unnecessary, as only a "miniscule" number of students were involved, and the interests of the 23 lakh students who took the examination honestly should not be compromised.
In separate affidavits submitted to the apex court, the Centre and NTA concurred that the impact of irregularities, cheating, impersonation, malpractices, and paper leak was limited and restricted to a few centres in Patna and Godhra, and that the students involved did not gain the advantage they were seeking.
The National Testing Agency (NTA), responsible for conducting the NEET-UG exam for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses, along with the Union education ministry, has been the focus of media attention and protests by students and political parties.



In response to the alleged irregularities in NEET-UG and PhD entrance NET, the Centre has taken action by removing Subodh Singh from his position as the NTA director general. Additionally, a high-level panel, chaired by former Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chief R Radhakrishnan, has been appointed to ensure that examinations conducted by the agency are transparent, smooth, and fair.
While NEET-UG faces scrutiny over various irregularities, the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) was also cancelled after the education ministry received information suggesting that the exam's integrity had been compromised.
Both the NEET-UG and UGC-NET matters are currently under investigation by the CBI.