Thousands of students across India are in distress following reports of serious irregularities in the NEET 2024 exam, which was conducted on May 5 and whose results were announced on June 4. Concerns have arisen over paper leaks, unauthorized awarding of grace marks, and questionable merit rankings, leading to widespread calls for an impartial investigation.

Reports of paper leaks surfaced from various parts of the country, including Bihar, Gujarat, and Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan, with arrests made in connection to paper leak gangs. Despite these allegations, the National Testing Agency (NTA) dismissed the claims without conducting an investigation.

Further complicating matters, the NTA awarded grace marks to students, citing a 2018 Supreme Court order related to time lost at exam centers. However, no prior information about the provision of grace marks was included in the NEET 2024 information booklet or any other official notification. This unprecedented move has significantly impacted the merit list, with students who received grace marks rising higher in the rankings while those who scored well found themselves ranked lower than expected.

For example, in 2023, a score of 648 secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 7,500, but this year, the same score yielded a rank exceeding 31,000. Additionally, the number of students scoring 720/720 jumped from two last year to 67 this year, raising eyebrows about the integrity of the examination process.

Allegations have also emerged about irregularities in the distribution of top scores. Several students from the same exam centers in different states scored 720/720, with eight students from a Haryana center making it to the top 100 list, six of whom achieved perfect scores. This has led to calls for a thorough investigation into the conduct of the examination.

In a move seen as an attempt to avoid media scrutiny, the NTA released the results ten days earlier than scheduled, coinciding with the country's general election news coverage. Initially, the results displayed the marks of the top 100 students, but this list was quickly replaced with one that omitted the marks, further fueling suspicion. The NTA later disclosed that grace marks had been awarded, a revelation that caught many by surprise.

In light of these issues, affected students and their parents are demanding government intervention. They are calling for an impartial investigation into the NEET 2024 exam and its results to ensure fairness and justice. They have also requested a halt to the counseling process until a thorough investigation is completed.

The ongoing situation has left many students and their families disillusioned with the examination system, highlighting the urgent need for transparency and accountability in the conduct of national level exams.

Dr Raj Shekhar Yadav State Convenor of United private Clinics & Hospitals Association of Rajasthan (UPCHAR) says that NTA has botched up everything.Giving grace marks to students for loss of time during exam on the basis of a Sc order meant for online CLAT exam is controversial and surpisingly the provision of grace marks was never disclosed by NTA.

On hearing rumours of students getting  100-150 grace marks a student from Jabalpur MP says, "If grace marks are really given like this then the AIR 68 and 69 who got 719 and 718 marks must have been scoring 619 and 618 but now they will be studying in top AIIMS due to grace marks . How unfair is all this!"