A NEET SUBVERSION

June 4, results, and a bit of snafu. No, this isn’t about the general election—those descriptors applied to another realm, an equally national one.

- Shelly Anand

The same evening when all eyes were on the Lok Sabha results, nearly a quarter of a million families across India were holding their breath for another kind of disclosure about their future. The National Testing Agency (NTA), acting about 10 days ahead of schedule, was putting out the results of the National Eligibilitycum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024, conducted on May 5. A single door to all the medical courses and allied pursuits at the under-graduate level in India, it had some 2.4 million aspirants standing outside it expectantly. But no sooner had it started revolving, a Pandora's box of questions and doubts opened up.

As many as 67 students scored 720 out of 720-a curious boom in merit, considering only two students had managed the feat in 2023. Six of these were from the same centre in Jhajjar, Haryana. More anomalies cropped up: several near-perfect scores of 718 and 719. Such marks were a mathematical impossibility due to the "+4, -1" scoring system: four marks for a correct answer, one negative mark for a wrong one. Says Dr Sanjeev Singh, medical director, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, "It could be either 720 or, if one question attempted was incorrect, you'd get 715. Or, one no-answer could give you 716. A score of 718 or 719 is not possible."

It didn't take long for NEET to renew its old history of legal trouble. On June 11, responding to petitions that sought the cancellation of the exam, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the NTA and said the "sanctity of the exam had been affected...so we need answers". The counselling process for admissions is to continue for the moment, the next hearing is on July 8.