‘No evidence of paper leak for…,’ Dharmendra Pradhan on NEET-UG exam row

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday told the Lok Sabha that ‘there is no evedience of paper leak has been found in the last 7 years’ as opposition MPs raised NEET exam issue.

Further mentioning that the matter is going on before the Supreme Court, he said “I can say with full responsibility that more than 240 exams have been conducted successfully after NTA…”

NEET hearing is underway at Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday commenced hearing on a batch of petitions related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam, NEET-UG 2024.

The top court was told by a counsel for NEET-UG aspirants that the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the prestigious exam, has admitted to paper leak and the dissemination of the ‘leaked question paper’ through WhatsApp.

At the outset, the bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwla and Manoj Misra asked the counsel for the parties as to what emerged from the declaration of the centre-wise and city-wise results of the exam.

The hearing is underway.

An analysis of results released by NTA on Saturday indicated that the candidates who allegedly benefitted from the paper leak and other irregularities did not do well. Some centres, however, showed high concentration of well-performing students, it revealed.

The voluminous data of over 23 lakh candidates from 4,750 centres was not released in a cumulative format but in a drop-down menu for each centre. The data was released on the direction of the Supreme Court which is hearing several petitions over the alleged irregularities as lakhs of aspirants await a final verdict on the fate of the exam.