Kapil Sibal slams PM Modi for silence on issues of national importance

California: Commenting on alleged irregularities in the results of the National Eligibility and Entrance Test for admission to medical colleges, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “silence” on the question and urged him to accept that “corruption is widespread” in the country.

About the controversy surrounding NEET-UG, results 2024

The NEET-UG 2024 result, announced on June 4, caused an uproar on several issues: 1,500 students received grace marks, a high number of perfect marks and allegations of a question paper leak. Several petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court and high courts by students seeking a retest, alleging irregularities and discrepancies. The SC allowed retest to over 1,500 students who secured grace marks.

Speaking to ANI from California on Sunday, Sibal said: “First of all, the Prime Minister should come before Parliament and say that yes, we have made a mistake. Corruption has existed in the country for a long time. and it is widespread in all departments. Until the government accepts this issue, there will be no solution to this problem.

“I remember the Prime Minister had said that corruption in our ministries had been eradicated. So it seems that this (NEET) is not a case of corruption, it is a question of goods and services,” quipped Sibal.

Kapil Sibal weighs in on PM Modi’s silence on many issues

He further addressed the Prime Minister’s ‘silence’ on the NEET row and other issues like the violence in Manipur.

“I will remind the Prime Minister what you said: if you see corruption happening, then you must comment on it in one way or the other. You always remain silent. Whether it is Manipur, he remains silent or whether it is terrorism, he remains silent Terrorism will end, cash transactions will end and corruption will also end,” he added.

Sibal, who is a former HRD minister, said the issue of NEET does not fall under the purview of the HRD ministry but falls under the health ministry.

“The Minister of Health has not commented on this until now. The Minister of HRD, whatever he says, does not come to work. In a profession where we are going to make a doctor out of a student , if this student becomes a doctor by paying money, then how will he practice medicine? What kind of doctor will he be?

Petitions filed seeking recall of NEET-UG, 2024

Several petitions have been filed in the apex court seeking orders to recall the NEET-UG 2024 results and conduct the exam again, alleging paper leaks and malpractices in the test held on May 5.

The NEET-UG exam, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), paves the way for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.

On June 13, the NTA told the Supreme Court that the scorecards of 1,563 candidates who secured ‘grace marks’ in the NEET-UG exam would be canceled and the candidates would be given an opportunity to appear again for the exam on June 23 and that the results would be declared before June 30.

He further said that a committee had been constituted to review the results of over 1,563 candidates who were given ‘grace marks’ to compensate for the loss of time incurred while appearing for NEET-UG. The Supreme Court will hear the petitions on July 8.

Published on: Monday, June 17, 2024, 09:05 IST