Mallikarjun Kharge Criticizes Modi Government Over NEET-UG Exam, Claims Future of 24 Lakh Students at Stake

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi over alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), asserting that the future of 24 lakh students who took the NEET-UG 2024 exam is jeopardized by the actions of the Modi government.

Several petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking to recall the NEET-UG 2024 results and conduct the exam afresh, alleging paper leaks and malpractices during the test held on May 5.

“Grace marks were not the only problem in the NEET exam. There has been rigging, papers have been leaked, and corruption has taken place. The future of 24 lakh students who appeared in the NEET exam is at stake due to the actions of the Modi government. A nexus of Exam Centre and Coaching Centre has been formed, in which the game of ‘pay money, take paper’ is being played,” Kharge said in a post on X.

Kharge also stated that the Modi government cannot shirk its responsibility by blaming the National Testing Agency (NTA). He called for a fair investigation under Supreme Court supervision into the entire NEET scam.

“The Modi government cannot escape its responsibility by putting the responsibility for its actions on the shoulders of NTA. The Congress party demands a fair investigation under the supervision of the Supreme Court in the entire NEET scam. After the investigation, the culprits should be given the harshest punishment and lakhs of students should be compensated to save their year from being wasted,” he said.

“In the last 10 years, the Modi government has ruined the future of crores of youth through paper leaks and rigging,” he added.

Amid nationwide outrage over the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 examination, the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that scorecards of 1563 candidates who received “grace marks” in the 2024 National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) exam will be canceled and candidates will have the chance to reappear for the exam.

“The Committee has decided to cancel the scorecards of 1563 NEET-UG 2024 candidates who were given grace marks and these students will be given the option to take a re-test,” NTA said. “The exam will be conducted on June 23 and the result will be declared before June 30.”

“Counseling will go on and we will not stop it. If the exam goes then everything goes in totality so nothing to fear,” said the Supreme Court.

The NEET-UG examination, conducted by NTA, is the pathway for admissions into MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.