New Delhi: Dharmendra Pradhan, who resumed charge as Union Education Minister on Thursday, refuted allegations of any malpractice in the NEET-UG exam conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA).
“Allegations of corruption in NTA unfounded, and the testing agency is a credible body, which conducts 3 major examinations that is NEET, JEE and CUET successfully in the country in 13 languages. A hearing in the Supreme Court is underway and this issue is regarding around 1,550 students. The government is ready to give answers to the court and the students. This specific issue has been taken very seriously and a committee of academicians has recommended some steps. The government will present them in front of the court,” he said.
He further assured that no student who appeared in the NEET-UG exam will face any disadvantage, in the wake of Centre’s submission in the SC.
Dharmendra also dismissed the allegations of paper leak. “There is no evidence of any paper leak. The model which was adopted for the 1550 was also recommended by the court. Some anomalies were seen in it and accordingly a academic panel was constituted to look into it,” he said, adding that the government will implement the court order on the re-test.
He further informed that two sets of question papers are sent to the 4,000 centres. “At six centres, wrong set of NEET question papers was distributed to students and this led to the delay of 30-40 minutes,” he said.
Action will be taken against people responsible, the Education Minister said, adding the Centre and NTA is committed to giving justice to the students in a transparent manner.
Notably, the Centre has informed the Supreme Court about its decision to cancel the scorecards of the 1563 NEET-UG 2024 candidates who were awarded grace marks over loss of time. They will provided with their actual marks and given an opportunity to take a re-test on June 23.
