Kapil Sibal slams PM Modi’s silence on NEET-UG 2024 irregularities

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

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

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

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

He further criticized the Prime Minister’s “silence” on the issue of NEET and other issues like the Manipur violence. “I will remind the Prime Minister of what you said; if you see corruption, then you need to comment on it in some way. You always remain silent. Whether it is Manipur, he remains silent or whether it is terrorism, he remains silent. Terrorism will stop, cash transactions will stop and corruption will also stop. We are monitoring all of this,” he added.

Sibal, who is a former HRD minister, stressed that the issue of NEET falls under the purview of the health ministry and not the HRD ministry. “The Minister of Health has so far made no comment on this matter. The HRD minister, whatever he says, does not come to work. In a profession where we are going to make a student a doctor, if that student becomes a doctor by paying money, then how will he practice medicine? What kind of doctor will he be? » he questioned.

Several petitions have been filed in the apex court seeking recall of NEET-UG 2024 results and re-examination, 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 informed the Supreme Court that the mark sheets of 1,563 candidates who received ‘grace marks’ in the NEET-UG exam would be canceled and such candidates would be given an opportunity to appear again in the exam of June 23, with the results. to be declared before June 30.

He further said that a committee had been constituted to review the results of over 1,563 candidates who obtained ‘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.