The National Testing Agency (NTA) released data on state and center-specific medical entrance test results on Saturday. The data showed that applicants who took the exams from centers that reportedly benefitted from the paper leak and other irregularities ended up performing poorly.

According to the NEET-UG 2024 data, which is now accessible to the public, the performance of applicants from centers under investigation—such as the Oasis School in Hazaribag, Jharkhand; Hardayal Public School in Jhajjar, Haryana; or, conversely, the Jay Jalaram International School in Godhra, Gujarat—was relatively below average when compared to thousands of other centers that have not been associated with any irregularities.

This discovery may be significant given the NTA's claim that the leak was limited to Hazaribag and the fact that the exam does not need to be canceled because the individuals responsible have already been identified and rejected.

The NTA was directed by the Supreme Court on Thursday to post the center-wise exam results of the more than 23 lakh candidates vying for more than 1 lakh MBBS seats on its website by Saturday noon. The objective of this directive was to identify the candidates who benefited from the Bihar NEET-UG question paper leak and evaluate the extent of the leakage.

The court was answering senior advocate Narender Hooda, the petitioners' counsel, who contended that examining the center-wise data would determine whether the NTA's position was credible, given that it conflicted with the Bihar Police's findings that revealed the Hazaribag leak.

There were 701 candidates at Oasis School, which is connected to the alleged leak; none of them received a score of 700 or above. Twelve candidates had scores between 600 and 649, while seven candidates received scores between 650 and 699. It's interesting to note that less than 1% of applicants at Oasis School received scores of 650 or above.

In comparison, more than 2% of candidates at St. Xavier's School in the same city received a score of 650 or higher, with one candidate receiving a score of more than 700. Remarkably, no investigation has been conducted at St. Xavier's examination center in Hazaribag.

Candidates who took tests at the Jay Jalaram School in Godhra center, where the administration participated in dishonest activities to help a few crack the exams, have not performed well, similar to those who presented at Oasis School. This also holds true for Jhajjar, Haryana's Hardayal Public School, where there was controversy when candidates received grace marks for finishing the exam in less time than allotted.

With only 0.4% (7 students) getting 650 or above and none of the 1,836 pupils receiving scores above 700, the Godhra school had one of the lowest percentages of candidates scoring 600 or higher. In Jhajjar, just five students received 720, even with the grace marks offered.

The NTA withdrew the grace marks, mandating another exam. Of the 494 candidates at Hardayal Public School, just two were able to obtain scores of 650 or higher, and none of them got more than 700. At this center, fifteen candidates received a score of 600 or above.

It can be difficult for applicants with scores between 600 and 650 to get into government colleges. 13 lakh of the 23 lakh candidates passed the exam, but over 30,000 of them scored more than 650, giving them a good chance to secure one of the 56,000 seats at affordable government universities.

There are 1.1 lakh seats available overall this year, including those in private colleges. Applicants who receive a score lower than 630 face the risk of not being accepted into a respectable medical college.

On May 8, three days following the exam, the Godhra case was opened against five individuals on the grounds that they had assisted 27 medical aspirants in cheating. According to IPC provisions, all five of them were accused of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and criminal breach of trust. Education consultant Parshuram Roy, of Vadodara; Jay Jalaram School principal Purushottam Sharma; instructor Tushar Bhatt; and alleged middleman Vibhor Anand and Arif Vohra are among the detained suspects.

Five cases of alleged NEET-UG misconduct that were being looked into by police in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Bihar have been taken over by the CBI.

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Priyanka Pandey/MSM)