The Supreme Court delivered a stern warning to the National Testing Agency (NTA) amidst the ongoing NEET examination controversy. The Court emphasized that even 0.001% negligence in the examination process must be addressed with the utmost seriousness. During the hearing, the Supreme Court responded to numerous complaints regarding irregularities in the NEET exam. The justices underscored the importance of maintaining the integrity of the examination process and ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly.
NEET is India's main entrance exam for medical and allied educational fields. The National Testing Agency conducts the exam every year. Issuing notices to the NTA and the Centre, the court said even a 0.001 percent negligence must be dealt with completely."If there is 0.001% negligence on the part of anyone it should be thoroughly dealt with,” said the Supreme Court. The court also observed it can't forget the labour medical aspirants had put in to prepare for the one of the toughest entrance exams in the country."Children have prepared for the exams, we cannot forget their labour," the court observed, per ANI.
Justice Vikram Nath told the NTA that the Supreme Court expects timely action from it."Let us hear the petitions on July 8," he added.The NEET-UG examination was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres across 571 cities in India. The results were declared on June 4.However, after the results were declared, the parents and teachers expressed doubts over grace marks awarded to 1,563 students. After it snowballed into a huge controversy with political parties sniping at each other, the agency told the Supreme Court earlier this month that it was cancelling the exam for those who got the grace marks. These students would be allowed to retake the test on June 23, and the results would be declared before June 30, it added. Earlier this month, a group of 20 medical aspirants filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking scrapping of the 2024 entrance test and a court-monitored probe by the CBI or independent agencies into the alleged irregularities. The plea claimed that 67 students scored 720 out of 720 marks in the NEET 2024 exam. It also claimed that there was an unusual uptick of 400 percent in candidates who scored 620-720 marks.