Ishita Soren, from Durgapur, West Bengal, wrote the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in 2023, scoring what she thought was enough for a reserved seat in a government medical college. Soren is from the Santhal tribe and, therefore, eligible for the 6% quota for Adivasi candidates in government medical colleges. But when the verified candidates' list appeared, they held a surprise for her.
Some last names stood out - Mandal, Karmakar, Rai, and Bhowmik. These are not typical tribal surnames and yet, candidates with these names were listed against the ST category. Ishita Soren did not get admission and the family suspected students from the general category had secured fake certificates and bagged seats reserved for tribal candidates.
Admission to medical programmes across the country is through the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG). NEET 2024 saw over 23 lakh candidates register to compete for about 1.08 lakh seats. The competition is intense. The qualifying cut-off the minimum score a student needs to participate in admission counselling is different for the different categories of applicants and usually lower for candidates from historically-marginalised communities such as the Scheduled Castes, Tribes and Other Backward Classes. The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the NEET, prepares separate merit lists for each of these groups. Those accessing reservation benefits must submit certificates to prove their claim, at the point of counselling.
"These are names traditionally associated with non-ST communities and appeared alongside the ST category listing," said Sunil Soren, Ishita's father. He works at the Durgapur steel plant as an assistant general manager. The Sorens pursued the issue through the courts and uncovered a scam where students from the general category with low scores faked caste certificates to bag seats meant for some of society's most marginalised.
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