Dharmendra Pradhan: Won't allow deficiency in holding tests

NEW DELHI: Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said the Centre would not tolerate any malpractice or irregularities in the conduct of exams, and accountability of the National Testing Agency (NTA) would be fixed if lapses were found.

Pradhan met several candidates who took the NEET-UG exam and their parents, and reaffirmed the govt's commitment to protect students' interests. "Concerns of students will be addressed with fairness and equity. The counselling process will be underway soon and it is of utmost importance to move ahead without any confusion," he said.

Govt sources clarified that the FIR related to NEET in Patna concerned "solver gangs" rather than a paper leak as claimed by Congress. Also, sources in NTA said the average score of qualifiers in Bihar was lower than the national average, with only one topper from Patna this year. If there had been a leak, there would have been more than one topper from Patna and a higher number of high scorers, an NTA official said.

NTA has faced criticism amid allegations of irregularities and inflated marks in the medical entrance exam conducted on May 5, the results of which were declared on June 4.

On Congress's criticism of the lapses in NEET-UG, Pradhan said, "They have just lost the elections and are now looking for a new issue. We have the facts, and misleading students and the public based on lies is not right." On Congress's statement that the NEET issue would "reverberate inside Parliament as well", Pradhan said, "I will reply with facts in Parliament."

Explaining the rise in toppers and cut-off marks this year, Pradhan said the NEET syllabus was reduced in line with NCERT's syllabus rationalisation.

This, combined with aligning questions to state board syllabi and increased competition due to more candidates, led to the higher number of top scorers, he added.