News Mania Desk/Agnibeena Ghosh/21st July 2024
On Saturday, the National Testing Agency (NTA) unveiled the comprehensive results of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate 2024 (NEET-UG), covering data from over 32 lakh candidates across 4,750 centers in 571 cities. This extensive release, mandated by the Supreme Court, was initially slated for June 14 but was expedited to June 4 due to the early completion of answer sheet evaluations.
The results have stirred significant attention, particularly because 67 students achieved a perfect score of 720—an unprecedented outcome in NEET’s history. Notably, six of these top scorers were from a center in Faridabad, Haryana, raising concerns about possible irregularities. The NTA has requested that 1,563 candidates who received grace marks retake the exam, though 750 of them opted out.
Analysis of the results indicates some intriguing patterns. Certain centers exhibited an unusually high proportion of top performers, with these rates generally aligning with the performance levels of their respective cities. For instance, the Oasis School in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand—where the principal was arrested in connection with the exam—had only 0.71% of its candidates in the top 1%, which mirrors Hazaribagh’s overall rate of 0.66%. Similarly, at Master Adityendra Government Senior Secondary School in Bharatpur, Rajasthan—where an impersonation case was reported—0.71% of candidates achieved top 1% rankings, which is below Bharatpur’s general rate of 1.4%.
The Supreme Court’s current review of NEET-UG focuses specifically on two incidents of paper leaks in Patna and Hazaribagh. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has indicated that the court’s decision on whether to cancel the exam or order a retest will be based on whether these breaches were isolated or indicative of broader systemic issues. The NTA, for its part, maintains that the leaks were localized and that those who benefited from them have been identified and disqualified. The agency has asserted that there is no need to annul the entire exam.
This scrutiny underscores the tension between maintaining the integrity of high-stakes exams and addressing concerns about fairness and transparency. The NTA’s swift action in releasing the results and the Supreme Court’s ongoing investigation reflect the high stakes involved in ensuring the credibility of the NEET-UG process. As the situation evolves, both the examination authorities and the judiciary are under pressure to uphold the standards of fairness and accuracy that are critical to the credibility of the examination system.
