The uproar over the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 question paper leak is only just beginning to fade, yet now, Telegram groups claiming to sell NEET-PG question papers have emerged, just days before the exam is set to be conducted.
Screenshots of these groups on Telegram and WhatsApp have made their way to social media platform X, where activists and medical associations have raised concerns about the integrity and fairness of the upcoming entrance examination.
In one such screenshot, a Telegram group called ‘NEET-PG Leaked Material’ is reportedly offering NEET-PG question papers for both exam shifts at a price of Rs 70,000. The scammers are allegedly demanding an initial payment of Rs 35,000, with the balance due after the exam. They claim that the leaked material will be provided to students one day before the test.
“The board said materials will be prepared 2hrs before exams just because they don't want the candidates to believe that there will be leakages, normally it takes more than 48 hrs to ready the questions,” a message in the said Telegram group read, as could be seen in one of the screenshots.
While it could not be ascertained whether there is an actual possibility of paper leak or not, the screenshots raise serious concerns among the medical community which has already been affected by malpractice in the NEET-UG exam.
The issue was also highlighted on social media platform X by health activist and National Coordinator, Indian Medical Association - Junior Doctors Network (IMA-JDN), Dr Dhruv Chauhan.
Speaking to EdexLive, Dr Dhruv Chauhan said, “It doesn't matter if it is real or not, it matters that it is happening in public openly. It is being allowed, even promoted, because no action is being taken against such scammers. We have to win the students’ trust back. Of course, as activists and influencers, we can use our platform to tell the students that these papers are fake but at the same time, if it comes from the exam authorities and official channels, it would be much more effective.”
The NEET-PG 2024 exam is scheduled to be conducted on Sunday, August 11, in two sessions.
Recently, there have also been allegations of two ‘confidential’ documents leaking into the public domain. Screenshots of these documents surfaced on social media just days ago, casting doubts on the competence of the exam authorities responsible for overseeing national-level examinations.
“There is a possibility that hackers have accessed the official databases. For the previous few days, we have been seeing that official documents are circulating on social media — confidential notices, list of exam centres, and so on. There is a possibility of data breach here. I am not saying that the allegations of a paper leak are true but what I know is that people are able to claim that the official question paper was leaked in a telegram group of 30,000 people. This is a concern of cyber security that the authorities should be aware of,” Dr Chauhan stressed further.
So far, there has been no official clarification from the authorities whether or not the screenshots alleged to be leaked official documents, are real or not.
