Rahul Gandhi on NEET-UG paper leak: ‘Exam system up for sale… it’s a serious problem’

NEET-UG paper leak: Congress MP and LoP in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that paper leak is a serious issue and suggested the government, including the Education Minister, should take the full responsibilty for it. 

Rahul Gandhi said at the Parliament, "It is obvious to the whole country that there is a very serious problem in our examination system, not just in NEET but in all the major examinations. The minister (Dharmendra Pradhan) has blamed everybody except himself. I don't even think he understands the fundamentals of what is going on here..."

He further questions, “As this (NEET) is a systematic issue, what exactly are you doing to fix this issue?”

SC commences hearing on pleas related to row over NEET-UG

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.

The performance of the candidates from the centres under the scanner -- such as Oasis School, Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, Hardayal Public School, Jhajjar, Haryana, Jay Jalaram International School in Godhra, Gujarat -- were comparatively much below par.

On July 18, the bench directed the NTA to declare by 12 noon of July 20 the centre and city-wise results of the controversy-ridden exam while masking the identities of the aspirants.

The bench had said it wanted to ascertain whether candidates appearing at allegedly tainted centres scored more marks than those elsewhere.