California: Commenting on the alleged irregularities in the results of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for admission to medical colleges, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “silence” on the issue and urged him to accept that “corruption is prevalent” in the country.
The result of the NEET-UG 2024, declared on June 4, caused an uproar amid several issues- 1,500 students received grace marks, a high number of perfect scores, and allegations of a leaked question paper.
Several petitions were filed in the Supreme Court and high courts by students seeking a re-test alleging irregularities and discrepancies. The SC has allowed retest of over 1,500 students who got grace marks.
Speaking to ANI on Sunday from California, Sibal said, “First of all, the Prime Minister should come in front of the people in Parliament and say that yes, we made a mistake, Corruption has been going on in the country for a long time and it is prevalent in every department. Until the government does not accept this matter, there will be no solution to this.”
“I remember that the Prime Minister had said that corruption in our ministries has been eradicated. So it seems that this (NEET) is not a case of corruption, this is a matter of goods and services,” Sibal quipped.
He further took a dig at the Prime Minister’s “silence” over the NEET row and other issues like Manipur violence.
“I will remind the Prime Minister of what you said; if you see corruption taking place, then you must comment on it in some way or another. You always remain silent. Whether it is about Manipur, he remains silent or whether it is about terrorism, he remains silent. Terrorism will end, cash transactions will end, and corruption will also end. We are watching all this,” he added.
Sibal, who is a former HRD minister, said that the matter of NEET does not come under the purview of the HRD ministry but is a matter of the Health Ministry.
“The Health Minister has not commented on this till date. The HRD minister, whatever he says, does not come to work. In a profession where we are going to make a student a doctor, if that student becomes a doctor by paying money then how will he practice medicine? What kind of doctor will he be?” he asked.
Kapil Sibal’s comments come after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, admitted that “some irregularities have come to light in two places” in the conduct of the 2024 National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET-UG).
While speaking to ANI, the union minister said, “I assure students and parents that the government has taken this seriously.” He also assured that stern action would be taken against the National Testing Agency (NTA) officials if they were found guilty.
“On the recommendations of the Supreme Court, the order has been given for a re-test of 1,563 candidates,” he said.
Pradhan further said “Even if the big officials of the NTA are found guilty, they will not be spared. A lot of improvement is required in NTA. The government is concerned about this, no culprit will be spared, they will get the harshest punishment.”
The NTA on Thursday, June 13, told the Supreme Court that the scorecards of 1,563 candidates who got “grace marks” in the NEET-UG exam will be cancelled.
They will be given a chance to reappear for the exam on June 23 and the results will be declared before June 30.
Several petitions were filed in the apex court seeking direction to recall NEET-UG 2024 results and to conduct the examination afresh, alleging paper leakage and malpractices in the test held on May 5.
The NEET-UG examination, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), paves the way for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
On June 13, the NTA told the Supreme Court that the scorecards of 1563 candidates who got “grace marks” in the NEET-UG exam will be cancelled and the candidates will have a chance to reappear for the exam on June 23 and the results will be declared before June 30.
It further said that a committee has been constituted to review the results of over 1,563 candidates who were awarded “grace marks” to compensate for the loss of time suffered while appearing for NEET-UG. The Supreme Court will hear the petitions on July 8.
