Grace marks controversy: Parents term a scam in NEET-UG results, lodge complaint with officials, demand relief for affected students

JIND: Amid the controversy going on for NEET-UG 2024 results, parents lodged complaints with district higher officials seeking intervention of Centre into the matter terming it a major scam nationwide. They raised doubts on the timing of results alleging that it was to be announced on June 14 but national testing agency (NTA) declared it on June 4, on the day of counting to avoid any attention of officials and the union government into the alleged scam that witnessed a huge loss for students.
However, NTA has on Wednesday stated that The loss of examination time was ascertained, and such candidates were compensated with grace marks.So, the candidate’s marks can be 718 or 719 also,” the NTA explains. Candidates who experienced time loss during the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 have been granted grace marks, said NTA.
Krishan Sharma, a native of Jind district and whose daughter has been affected due to the alleged discrepancies said that there are thousands of students in the nation who have been put in harried. An unprecedented number of students, 67, bagging the perfect score 720 out of 720 – and also other discrepancies are visible in the NEET-UG results. Of the total students receiving full marks, six have seat numbers from the same sequence and are from Haryana, indicating the chance of them being from the same centre.
Moreover, scorecards of students scoring 718 and 719 are also being circulated on social media, which is being claimed that its impossible to achieve in the paper, when each NEET question carries four marks and one mark each is given for negative marking. Therefore, high cut-offs have put off numbers of candidates who were aspiring for joining government medical colleges this time. “NTA should have given extra time for students who have faced time loss rather than giving grace marks which has created trouble for every student. This was not an online exam in which the concerned centre can not give extra time in case of any unwanted situation but it was possible in the offline mode. But it seems that a scam has been committed to benefit some beloved persons by charging high amounts. Giving grace marks is totally wrong and the wrong move demoralized the student and parents as well. It’s a clear violation of the right to equality of students which should be taken up by concerned authorities to provide relief to affected students,” he added.
Harish Vasisth, additional deputy commissioner in Jind district said that a complaint has been received by parents. Their issues and doubts seem genuine and matter is being taken up by apprising higher officials, he added.