Telangana Assembly to pass resolution in favor of cancellation of NEET UG: CPM

Hyderabad: CPI(M) Telangana Secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram said that the Telangana State Legislative Assembly must pass a resolution in favor of canceling the recently conducted NEET-UG exam due to irregularities and of allegations of leaked exam documents.

The former Lok Sabha MP also said the Center must allow state governments to conduct their own medical exams like in the past.

Parliament disrupted over NEET row

The Opposition caused repeated disruptions in Parliament on Friday over the NEET paper leak issue, with both the Houses adjourned for the day without taking up much business, except the Rajya Sabha which took up the motion of thanks for the President’s speech amid protests, especially from the BJD, which almost consistently supported the BJP in the previous Lok Sabha.

At one point, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge also entered the well of the House to join the opposition protest.

The Lok Sabha was first adjourned within minutes of meeting at 11 a.m., then when it reconvened around noon, it was adjourned till Monday following the opposition’s demand for a discussion on the question.

Rajya Sabha also witnessed a series of disruptions before it was adjourned around 6 p.m. But even while the House was functioning, much of the time was taken up by the opposition parties showing their protest by raising slogans and entering the well of the House.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar expressed anguish over Kharge’s presence in the well, saying it was the first time that a person in the position had indulged in such conduct.

The opposition was also relentless in its protests in the Lok Sabha, leading to its first adjournment of the day minutes after members assembled.

CBI gets custody of 4 accused

A court on Saturday sent four accused arrested in connection with alleged NEET-UG malpractices held at a school near Godhra in Gujarat to CBI custody till July 2.

The Gujarat police had arrested five people last month in this case.

Among them, the Central Bureau of Investigation has sought custody of teacher Tushar Bhatt, school principal Jay Jalaram Purushottam Sharma and middlemen Vibhor Anand and Arif Vohra.

The agency did not seek remand of education consultant Parsuram Roy, a fifth accused.

The five accused are currently behind bars in Godhra sub-jail.

Panchmahal principal district judge CK Chauhan on Saturday granted the CBI’s remand request, government lawyer Rakesh Thakor said.

CBI lawyer Dhruv Malik told the court that although the police had conducted an investigation into the case, the agency needed their detention for further investigation.

A preliminary investigation by the CBI revealed that the accused had asked candidates willing to use illegal means to score well in the National Medical Eligibility and Entrance Test to opt for the school Jay Jalaram of Godhra as the exam centre, Malik said.

“Last year, when NEET was held in the same school, the accused realized that the answer sheets were kept in the same school overnight before being sent. This gave them an idea. They then asked their students to choose this center to execute their plans,” Malik said.

According to the Gujarat Police, the accused asked the candidates not to answer a question if they did not know the answer. The accused then filled in the correct answers on the answer sheet.

Earlier in the day, the CBI raided seven locations in Gujarat in connection with NEET-related malpractices.

A CBI team had last week recorded statements of six candidates who allegedly paid one of the accused.

A case was registered by the Godhra police on May 8 against three people for allegedly trying to help 27 candidates clear NEET-UG by charging Rs 10 lakh each.

(Extracts from PTI)