NEET UG 2021 Latest Update Today: The CBI sources on Wednesday said that a scandal involving the NEET medical entrance examinations that saw an attempt to use proxies to clear the test and payments of Rs 50 lakh per candidate has been unearthed. The revelation from the CBI comes amid uproar over suicides by students in Tamil Nadu.
Giving further details to NDTV, the CBI sources said that a Maharashtra-based coaching centre RK Education Career Guidance, its Director Parimal Kotpalliwar and several students have been charged in the scam. The CBI also added that the candidates were charged as much as Rs 50 lakh assuring admission to government medical colleges.
The CBI probe further revealed that the parents of the medical aspirants were asked to deposit post-dated cheques of the agreed amount and original mark sheets of the candidate for Class 10 and Class 12 as security which the coaching centre would return after realising the agreed amount which is up to Rs 50 lakh.
The CBI also said that the user IDs and passwords of candidates appearing for the examination have been collected by Parimal and his associates and necessary modifications have been made for getting desired examination centres as planned by them. It was found that the copies of e-Aadhaar card of candidates were being collected for the purpose of making forged ID cards.
Even though five proxy candidates were fixed for the NEET examination on September 12 by Parimal Kotpalliwar, the CBI said those proxies didn’t turn up at the exam centres while the agency officials were waiting at the centres to catch them red-handed.
The probe from CBI comes amid a string of suicides in Tamil Nadu that prompted Chief Minister MK Stalin to make an emotional appeal last week to students. Over the past few years, 15 medical aspirants have died by suicide in the state.
It must be noted that a 17-year-old girl died in Tamil Nadu last week allegedly by suicide, the third such death in less than a week.
Tamil Nadu passes bill: On the other hand, Tamil Nadu passed a new bill to stop NEET-based admission to medical courses. It would, however, only take effect after a sign-off by President Ram Nath Kovind, since it challenges a central law.
Maharashtra to review NEET: After Tamil Nadu scrapped the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET), Maharashtra on Wednesday announced that it will review the medical entrance exam and see whether it is good for students. Speaking to ANI, Maharashtra minister Amit Deshmukh said that Tamil Nadu’s move has triggered a debate whether NEET is right or not for the students. “Tamil Nadu scrapped NEET exams, it gave rise to discussions if NEET is right for states or not and what will be better for students’ future,” he said.
On Tuesday, Congress Maharashtra chief Nana Patole said the Maharashtra government should exempt medical courses aspirants from the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) on the lines of Tamil Nadu.
Kamal Haasan voices concern over NEET: Supporting retired Justice AK Rajan’s report on the impact of NEET, Kamal Haasan on Wednesday released a statement calling NEET to be against social justice and equality. “NEET shatters the medical aspirants’ dreams coming from poor or rural backgrounds. After NEET the percentage of students joining Medical courses has fallen from 14.44% to 1.7% and this shows that NEET is against social justice”, stated Kamal Haasan.
Kamal Haasan also stated that NEET is creating a mentality against one’s mother tongue and said that it should be removed not only from Tamil Nadu but the whole of India.
NEET aspirants write to NTA for reexam: On the other hand, the NEET aspirants on Tuesday wrote to the National Testing Agency (NTA) demanding re-exam and a CBI investigation due to the medical entrance exam scam. They also pointed that due to the change in exam pattern, they need more time to adapt to the paper pattern. Earlier, the students had submitted a written draft to NTA regarding the conduction of NEET phase 2 however, they claim that have received no response on the same till now.
NTA issues clarification: Talking about the alleged paper leak incident, the NTA had earlier issued a clarification saying the NEET question paper was circulated via WhatsApp about 37 minutes after the exam started and hence it cannot be called a leak just yet.
