Students petition NTA, Modi, Pradhan to reconduct NEET after paper leak, cheating scams rock country

Controversies around the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) do not look like they are dying any time soon. The entrance test for undergraduate medical aspirants was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Sunday, September 12, after multiple postponements thanks to the pandemic, and student protests against the exam date for a whole host of reasons, all of which were dismissed by the Supreme Court.

However, news broke recently that the paper had been leaked in Jaipur, Rajasthan, where eight people, including three students were arrested for making a deal of Rs 35 lakh to obtain the question paper — the college administrator of the Rajasthan Institute of Engineering and Technology, and two others who owned coaching academies were also arrested in the scam. Rajasthan, in fact, seems like a hotbed for cheating conspiracies in NEET, with reports also emerging of a situation reminiscent of director Rajkumar Hirani's film, Munna Bhai MBBS, where weak students from rich families are allegedly paying lakhs of rupees to senior medical students to write the exam on their behalf.

This was part of a racket formed by one of the toppers of the 2010 medical entrance exam in the state. The students were allegedly paying anywhere between 20 to 25 lakh rupees to get their exams written. The Jaipur police has said that this gang was responsible for the leak of the paper on Sunday too. In all, the police have arrested six students in this case.

Given these irregularities, medical aspirants have now started a petition on change.org, demanding a re-exam, alleging injustice to those who attempted the exam fairly. The petition, started by one Veronika Park, says, "NEET 2021 exam has not only been leaked in Rajashthan.. it was found that it's been leaked in many other states. It's not fair for the students who have genuinely attempted the paper and have practiced throughout the year for the same. So we demand re-examination, so that it is fair for students who are genuine." It has been addressed to the NTA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the CBSE (which used to conduct NEET earlier) and former Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal.