NEET UG 2024: NTA To Form New Four-Person Committee To Review Concerns

The National Testing Agency clarified on Saturday that it will be forming a high-powered committee to address the grievances of the candidates over the 2024 National Eligibility cum Entrance Test under graduate results.

The NTA has decided to form a four-person, high-powered committee to revisit the grievances faced by 1,600 candidates across six centres and allay fears in the minds of the 23 lakh students, Director General of the NTA, Subodh Kumar Singh, said while addressing the media on Saturday.

The DG reiterated that the integrity of the exam was not compromised and put to rest concerns about a nationwide re-test.

"A new committee will be formed under the chairpersonship of the former chairman of UPSC and other members of academia and the health sector," Singh noted, before adding that the committee will meet and give its recommendations within a week.

Answering media questions, Singh stated that the mandate of the new committee will be limited to looking into the case of 1,600 candidates who had lost time across six centres, with the help of CCTV footage and existing evidence.

The NTA will work in a limited time frame to ensure the admission process is not affected, he said. The NEET UG is one of the largest exams of its kind that is conducted pan-India and the NTA will revisit protocols, training and strengthen standards so that such an event does not reoccur, Singh said.

The nationwide pre-medical entrance test courted controversy after queries were raised by candidates about the increased cut-off, compensatory marks awarded, and increased number of top scorers. The NEET UG-2024 results were announced earlier this week on June 4.

NEET UG this year was attempted by 23,33,297 candidates, of whom 67 bagged the top rank, scoring 720/720, a stark deviation from the usual trend where three or four students bag the top rank. Of the top scorers, six candidates were from the same exam centre in Haryana, prompting allegations over the integrity of the test.

NTA, in a statement on Thursday, addressed allegations of inflation of marks and reiterated its denial of a paper leak. It was noted that the higher number of top rankers was due to a combination of grace marks allotted on a physics question, compensation for lost time and an increased pool of candidates.

"The number of candidates who appeared in 2023 was 20,38,596, while the number of candidates who appeared in 2024 increased to 23,33,297. The increase in candidates naturally led to an increase in high scorers due to a larger pool of candidates," the NTA noted in its release on Thursday.

The NEET UG was conducted across 4,750 centres in 571 cities (including 14 cities abroad) in 2024.