NEET-UG Grace Marks Under Review: Ministry Sets Up High-Powered Panel

The education ministry has established a four-member panel to review the grace marks awarded to over 1,500 NEET-UG candidates, amid allegations of marks inflation. A record 24 lakh candidates took the exam, with 67 sharing the top rank. The National Testing Agency denies any irregularities and awaits the committee's recommendations.

The education ministry has established a high-powered panel to scrutinize the grace marks given to more than 1,500 candidates in the NEET-UG medical entrance exam, according to an announcement from the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday.

This decision follows allegations of inflated scores causing 67 candidates to share the first rank in the exam.

Calls for a re-exam have surged, citing that the grace marks awarded to compensate for lost time at six exam centers have skewed results, potentially affecting other candidates.

The six centers in question are located in Meghalaya, Bahadurgarh in Haryana, Dantewada and Balodh in Chhattisgarh, Surat in Gujarat, and Chandigarh.

The results for the medical entrance exam were declared on June 4, with over 24 lakh candidates participating this year—a record number.

"A high-powered committee has been assembled to review the results of over 1,500 candidates. The four-member panel, led by a former UPSC chairman, will present its recommendations within a week, which may lead to a revision of these candidates' results," NTA Director General Subodh Kumar Singh said during a press conference.

"The grace marks have not affected the exam's qualifying criteria, and the results review will not interfere with the admission process," he added.

Numerous NEET aspirants have alleged that the inflated marks led to an unprecedented 67 candidates achieving the top rank, including six from a single exam center.

Despite the allegations, the National Testing Agency has denied any irregularities. They attribute the higher scores to changes in NCERT textbooks and grace marks awarded for lost time at specific exam centers.

When asked if the exam will be re-conducted for affected students, the NTA DG stated that the decision would depend on the committee's recommendations.

"The goal is to ensure fairness for all students, whether they lost time during the exam or not," he said.

Singh refuted claims of a paper leak and reiterated that the exam's integrity remained intact.

Meanwhile, the Congress in Kerala has questioned the authenticity of the exam results, while the Maharashtra government has called for the immediate cancellation of the recent NEET exam, arguing it has disadvantaged students from the state.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)