NEW DELHI: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met with a group of NEET-UG 2024 aspirants and their parents on Thursday amid ongoing controversy over alleged irregularities in the exam. This meeting aimed to address concerns such as the uncertainty surrounding the exam conducted in May, delays in the counselling process, and the impact on the academic calendar.Pradhan emphasised the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability, assuring that any National Testing Agency (NTA) officials found guilty of malpractice would face strict consequences. He highlighted that despite calls for a complete re-test, the incidents of paper leaks were localized, and cancelling the entire exam would unfairly affect the majority of students who took the test honestly. The government has scheduled a re-test for 1,563 affected candidates on June 23, with results expected by June 30.The Supreme Court has been involved, with the latest hearing on the petitions calling for the exam’s cancellation and re-conduction adjourned to July 18. The petitioners have also requested an investigation into the alleged malpractices. Despite these issues, the Supreme Court allowed the NEET-UG counselling process to continue, emphasizing the importance of not delaying admissions further.The NTA and the Ministry of Education have asserted that a data analysis by IIT Madras found no evidence of widespread malpractice or an abnormal concentration of high scores among any specific group of candidates. This analysis has been crucial in supporting the decision not to cancel the entire exam.In a related update, the Centre and the NTA had previously informed the Supreme Court that cancelling the NEET-UG exam would be detrimental to the future of millions of candidates who participated fairly. Over 23.33 lakh students took the test on May 5 across 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 overseas locations. The NEET-UG exam is crucial for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in various institutions across India.
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