Patna:

Amid the massive row surrounding the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, NDTV has accessed scorecards of four Bihar students who allegedly accessed the question paper before the exam. Two of these scorecards tell quite a story.

Anurag Yadav, who is among the four people arrested in the alleged paper leak case, has told the police that he was prepping for the medical entrance test in coaching hub Kota when his uncle Sikandar — also arrested — asked him to return to Samastipur and assured that the exam is “sorted”. He has said that he received some questions and their answers the night before the exam. These questions featured in the actual paper the next day, he has said.

Anurag’s scorecard issued by the National Testing Agency shows that he has scored 185 marks out of 720. His total percentile score is 54.84 (rounded off). But a look at his scores in individual subjects throws up a bizarre mismatch of numbers. Anurag scored 85.8 percentile in Physics and 51 percentile in Biology. But his chemistry is as low as 5 percentile. With the 22-year-old admitting that he got the questions a day before the exam, these scores suggest that he did not get enough time to memorise the chemistry answers.

Anurag’s all-India rank is mentioned as 10,51,525 and his category rank as an OBC candidate is 4,67,824.

Sikandar Yadavendu has told the police that he got four students in touch with Amit Anand and Nitish Kumar — also arrested — for the question papers. Amit and Nitish, he has said, asked for Rs 30-32 lakh rupees per student. “I told them I have four students taking the test. Out of greed, I told each student that they need to pay Rs 40 lakh for the question paper,” he has reportedly told police.

While Anurag has been arrested, the other three have been questioned. All three of them are from the OBC category. One of them has scored 300 out of 720 in the test and the percentile is 73.37 (rounded-off). But again, the individual scores raise questions. The student got 87.8 percentile in Biology, but 15.5 and 15.3 percentiles in Physics and Chemistry.

The scorecards of the other two students, however, indicate a decent show across all three subjects. One of them has scored 581 out of 720 and the other 483.

Ever since the results of the all-India exam for admission to MBBS, BDS and AYUSH courses were declared on June 4, multiple irregularities have surfaced. As many as 67 students have scored 720/720 and six of them are from the same centre in Haryana. The high-cut off this time has left many students wondering if they would get a medical college seat or not. Nationwide protests have broken out as aspirants demand a retest.

New Delhi:

Opposition leaders have targeted the Centre over the massive row surrounding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) — an all-India examination for admission to medical courses — that has triggered protests by aspirants in several parts of the country.

The DMK, which has been opposing NEET ever since it was introduced, has slammed the National Testing Agency for destroying the exam’s sanctity and said the Centre was a nothing more than a “spectator” and backing coaching centres. The Congress has questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence” and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe.

Results for the medical entrance examination, which was taken by 24 lakh students on May 5, were declared on June 4, when counting of votes for the 2024 Lok Sabha election was held. In the aftermath of the results, allegations of paper leak surfaced. As many as 67 students scored the perfect score of 720/720. The cut-off has gone up exponentially, leaving many wondering if they would get a medical college seat at all.

Another issue that has come under the scanner is the award of grace marks to several students to compensate for loss of time at the exam centre. The protesting students allege this is responsible for the inflated marks. The matter is before the Supreme Court, and the Centre has told the court that it had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates. They now have the option to take a re-test or forgo the grace marks. But a section of students has said this is not enough and the exam must be repeated for all students.  

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said there is no evidence of paper leak and claims of corruption in NTA are unfounded. “All the facts related to this are before the Supreme Court and are under consideration. The kind of politics being done on this issue is only an attempt to spread confusion and it affects the mental peace of the students,” Mr Pradhan said.

Targeting the Centre over the raging issue, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said grace marks are not the only problem. “There has been rigging, papers have been leaked, and corruption has taken place. The future of 24 lakh students appearing in the NEET examination is at stake due to the actions of the Modi government.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said the “scam in NEET” has devastated more than 24 lakh students and their families. The Opposition party’s general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, has said the Education Minister’s “arrogant response” ignores the cries of 24 lakh students and their parents.

Other INDIA allies have also joined the protest against the exam. RJD leader and Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejasjwi Yadav said paper leaks are “inevitable” whenever the BJP is in power at the Centre or in the state.

Trinamool leader and Bengal education minister Bratya Basu said the Centre expedites a probe into alleged irregularities in teachers’ recruitment in the eastern state. “But it is silent on probing the irregularities in NEET-UG, which affected the future careers of lakhs of aspiring doctors across the country,” he said.

Counselling for seats in medical colleges begins on July 6 and the Supreme Court will resume its hearing in the matter on July 8.