Two different OMR sheets, NEET score dropped from 600 to 270: Shocked father of Punjab aspirant

With the results of NEET 2020 around the corner, more students are alleging errors in their exam OMR sheet released by the National Testing Agency (NTA), almost a week ago. A parent who shared his son's OMR sheet with Edexlive said that two different OMR sheets were displayed for his son's roll number on two different days.

"On October 5, we checked our son's OMR sheet and found out that he was eligible for 600 marks. We were quite happy," says *Manish. "I called up a friend to tell him this and he wanted to see my son'sOMR sheet which I sent him the next day. Sometime later, he called me up to say that he is only eligible for 270 marks. I was shocked," says this doctor. He went back and checked to notice that the OMR sheet that he had sent his friend was not the one that he had seen originally.

"This is a serious issue. I called up the NTA to find out if there is a way out. But I was disappointed. They told me that I have to visit the agency's headquarters in Delhi," he says. Manish lives in Punjab and says that travel to Delhi will be impossible. given the COVID protocols in place. "After that, another official picked up the phone and shouted at me saying that my son is lying. I really don't know what to do right now," he says. He also believes that his son's signature was forged. Apart from Manish, a few other parents and students have raised similar concerns.

On October 6, The New Indian Express had reported about students receiving calls from persons claiming to be NTA representatives, offering to manipulate their OMR sheets. They were also assured admissions. However, this was denied by the NTA, which said that it stores no data of the students.

The body is yet to release a statement on these new allegations. We tried contacting the NTA Chief Vineet Joshi for a comment on the same. This copy will be updated once he responds.   

*Name Changed on request