Page 62 - EW July 2024

Special Report

RECTIFYING NTA

EXAMS DISASTER

Reports of widespread cheating, favouritism and swindles in NEET-UG 2024
have generated the first storm of the new Parliament convened on June 24.
That’s bad news for the weakened BJP/NDA 3.0 government, and especially
for re-inducted Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan

Summiya Yasmeen

W ITH EVIDENCE EMERGING leaks and swindles in NEET-UG 2024 have generated the

on a daily basis that there
first storm of the new Parliament convened on June 24.
That’s bad news for the weakened BJP/NDA government
was widespread cheating
and especially for Union education minister Dharmendra
and bribery in the NEET-
Pradhan, who has been re-inducted into Shastri Bhavan,
UG (National Eligibili-
ty-cum-Entrance-Test-
The embarrassment suffered by the new BJP/NDA gov-
Undergraduate)
2024
ernment at the Centre is likely to be serious because the
examination written by Delhi.
2.4 million school-leavers decision to replace medical college entrance exams hith-
aspiring for admission into medical colleges countrywide, erto administered by state governments with a common
the newly sworn-in BJP/Modi government at the Centre national exam — (NEET-UG) — for admission into all 706
has got off to a shaky start. Coincidently results of NEET- medical colleges countrywide was of the BJP/NDA 2.0 gov-
UG — a centralised national exam for aspirant medical ernment in 2016. The rationale of NEET-UG advanced at
practitioners introduced in 2016 — were announced on the the time — endorsed by the Supreme Court — was that it
very day (June 4) that General Election 2024 results were saves students the expense, time and inconvenience of hav-
declared by the Election Commission of India. ing to write multiple entrance exams of state governments
In the recently concluded General Election, upending in the hope of bagging a prized seat in a highly-subsidised
all expectation and opinion poll forecasts, the ruling BJP government-promoted medical college. In 2017, a National
was cut to size with its 303 seats in the Lok Sabha reduced Testing Agency (NTA) was established to conduct NEET-
to 240. Although together with its NDA (National Demo- UG and several other national entrance exams including
cratic Alliance) allies it bagged 293 seats in the 543-strong IIT-JEE, UGC-NET among others.
Lok Sabha, the BJP with prime minister Narendra Modi However according to some educationists, NTA was es-
at the helm has formed the BJP/NDA 3.0 government at tablished hurriedly without due care and diligence to create
the Centre, reports of widespread cheating, question paper well-paid “jobs for the boys”, i.e, ideologically aligned party

62 EDUCATIONWORLD JULY 2024