Forty-eight per cent of students who were scheduled to retake the NEET-UG today did not turn up, the National Testing Agency (NTA) said in a statement. After a Supreme Court order, 1,563 students who were given grace marks were eligible to take the retest today, the NTA said.
Of the total, 813 (52 per cent) gave the retest and 750 skipped, shows data released by the NTA this evening. The NTA had opened seven exam centres in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Meghalaya, and Chandigarh, a Union Territory.
Below is the list of how many students gave the retest, how many skipped, and the locations.
Chandigarh: 2 eligible, both absent.
Chhattisgarh: 602 eligible, 311 absent, 291 took retest.
Gujarat: 1 eligible, and the student turned up.
Haryana: 494 eligible, 207 absent, 287 took retest.
Meghalaya: 464 eligible, 230 absent, 234 took retest.
The retest was held on a day the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a first information report (FIR) in connection with alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG held on May 5. The CBI filed the case following a complaint from the Education Ministry amid protests and litigation by students for a probe into paper leak claims.
Officials said the ministry alleged in the complaint, now part of the FIR, that "certain isolated incidents" happened in a few states during the conduct of the examination. Giving top priority to the case, the CBI has formed special teams that are on their way to Godhra and Patna, where cases of question paper leaks have been filed by the police.
The CBI will take over the investigation of the cases filed by the police in Gujarat and Bihar.
Sixty-three candidates were debarred from all over the country over malpractices during the NEET-UG, the NTA said. They include 17 from Bihar, and 30 from Godhra.
The role of officials, if any, connected with the conduct of the examination and also into the entire gamut of events, and the larger conspiracy will also be under the scanner, officials said.
In a separate matter, the Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre, the NTA and others on various petitions, including those seeking cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 exam and a court-monitored investigation.
The Supreme Court also halted proceedings on similar petitions in various high courts.
