AGARTALA, June 12 (TIWN): Alakh Pandey, the CEO of Physics Wallah, moved to the Supreme Court against the National Testing Agency (NTA) led extra marks to some students who took the NEET-UG exam for medical school. He filed a petition on June 9, and Advocate J Sai Deepak mentioned it in court on June 11 for an urgent listing. The court, led by Justice Vikram Nath, told the lawyer to talk to the court's administration so they can put it on the Chief Justice's schedule. Yesterday, the Supreme Court of India has taken notice of a request to cancel the NEET-UG 2024 exam due to widespread complaints of problems in the test.

Despite this, the court didn't halt the counseling process, emphasizing the importance of getting answers to the issues raised. The court combined this new petition with an existing one for a hearing on July 8. Additionally, it asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to respond to another plea for a new exam due to alleged leaks and other ‘malpractices’.

This situation arises from accusations that the testing agency used a 'normalization formula' improperly to give extra marks to students in this year's NEET exam. A legal petition alleging the National Testing Agency (NTA) of inflating marks was submitted to the Supreme Court. In reaction, the NTA formed a committee on Sunday to assess the extra marks given to NEET UG 2024 students.

When the issue is monitored by Supreme Court, protests are going on across India seeking proper investigation in the NEET – 2024 exams along with raising cancellation of National Testing Agency (NTA). A constant allegation against the NTA of failing to secure the confidentiality of question papers in NEET UG 2024 exams, led the NTA director general Subodh Kumar Singh to announce that the Education Ministry has set up a panel to re-examine results of over 1,563 students, who were awarded grace marks in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2024. The panel would submit the report within a week, i.e. next Saturday.

What are the main important points which are giving ground to the scam-allegations in NEET-UG 2024 :

Question Paper Leak : According to media reports, allegations surfaced regarding the leakage of the NEET UG question paper before the test commenced on May 5. An investigation by the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar police revealed that parents of students had allegedly paid approximately Rs 50 lakh for the question paper to be leaked. Subsequently, the EOU in Bihar arrested up to 13 individuals, including parents and aspirants. Further suspicion arose when eight students, purportedly from the same exam center in Jhajjar, Haryana, achieved a perfect score of 720/720, joining the 67 students nationwide who attained this feat.

Grace Marks : 1,563 students were awarded grace marks due to "loss of exam time". 1,563 students got extra marks after they complained about they faced problems during their exams due to various issues including distribution of wrong question papers. This happened in states like Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, and Chhattisgarh. Some students got the wrong question papers. The National Testing Agency (NTA) decided to give extra marks to these students, claiming to follow a formula approved by the Supreme Court in 2018. Some people are saying that hundreds of marks were given unfairly, but the NTA disagreed. The director general, Subodh Kumar Singh said that giving extra marks didn't change who passed the exam.  In the NEET 2024 exam, 1,563 candidates received extra marks to make up for lost time. The National Testing Agency clarified that out of 67 candidates who scored full marks, 44 of them achieved All India Rank 1 because of a physics question with two correct answers.

Inaccurate Answer-key : Another controversy emerged regarding the NEET exam, as students found an incorrect answer key, particularly in a Physics question where two options seemed correct. Approximately 13,000 students challenged this discrepancy, as choosing one option cost them five marks, while skipping it only resulted in a loss of four marks due to negative marking. Aspirants argued that those who attempted the question were granted five grace marks, unlike those who skipped it to avoid potential loss. They urged the NTA to either exclude the question from evaluation or provide grace marks to all test-takers for fairness. Notably, 44 students who achieved perfect scores benefited from attempting the disputed Physics question and receiving grace marks.