New Delhi: The counselling process for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for undergraduate courses of medicine (NEET-UG) did not start today (July 6) as it was supposed to.
Candidates who clear the exam participate in the counselling process undertaken by the Union and state governments, in which they are allotted medical colleges on the basis of their scores and ranks.
The National Testing Agency (NTA), which comes under the Union education ministry, conducts the NEET-UG examination. The government has not yet notified the new date for the counselling process, leaving thousands of successful students in jeopardy.
After news reports emerged that counselling had been deferred, the Union health ministry issued a statement on July 6. “This is to clarify that the date of NEET-UG counselling has not been notified yet, hence the news of its deferment is incorrect,” it said.
However, it did not clarify why counselling didn’t begin on July 6 and when it is expected to take place next.
It is also important to note that in a June 20 hearing in the Supreme Court, the NTA said that counselling for the exam’s candidates would begin on July 6 as scheduled.
In the same hearing, the court also refused to stay the counselling process as demanded by various petitioners, including candidates who appeared in the examination.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for July 8.
In an affidavit submitted to the apex court three days before the slated hearing, the Union government accepted that irregularities in the exam occurred at centres in Patna and Godhra.
The government opposed a retest in its affidavit. It argued that since these irregularities were confined to merely two states, they were not a pan-India concern.
Calling the incidents of malpractice “minuscule”, the government said that cancelling the exam would jeopardise the interests of all other candidates who took the test.
Almost 24 lakh aspirants wrote the highly competitive exam on May 5 for admission into medical colleges, but it has been marred by accusations of a paper leak and by the aforementioned irregularities.
The Supreme Court has heard petitions seeking corrective action, including retroactively cancelling the exam.
The government has handed the probe into the alleged malpractice to the CBI. The premier investigating agency has so far arrested seven people and registered six FIRs in Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
According to the Indian Express, police in Bihar told the Union government that its investigation ‘clearly suggested’ the exam’s paper had been leaked.
Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan acknowledged the allegations in a press conference last month, saying he took moral responsibility for them and that those involved would not be spared.
