Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said that no major anomalies have been found in the conduct of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for admission to medical colleges.
Replying to supplementary questions during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha the Minister said, “Out of 4,700 centres set up for the conduct of NEET UG examination, only at one place anomalies and malpractices have been reported.”
The Minister said that no evidence of NEET paper leak has been found in the last 7 years.
“Only one incident of NEET-UG paper leak near Patna has been reported so far in the country,” he added.
“This (NEET) matter is going on before the Supreme Court. I can say with full responsibility that more than 240 exams have been conducted successfully after National Testing Agency” was formed, he said.
Launching an attack on the government over the NEET paper leak, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said, “It is obvious to the whole country that there is a very serious problem in our examination system, not just in NEET but in all major examinations.”
He further said, “The minister has blamed everybody except himself. I don’t even think he understands the fundamentals of what is going on here.”
Responding to Rahul’s remarks, Pradhan said, “A lie will not become the truth just by shouting. The country’s examination system has been called rubbish. There cannot be a more unfortunate statement by the Leader of the Opposition. I condemn this.”
Gandhi said that there are millions of students in the country who are extremely concerned about what is going on and who are convinced that the “Indian examination system is a fraud”.
“As this (NEET) is a systematic issue, what exactly are you doing to fix this issue?” he asked the minister.
Gandhi said, “Millions of people believe that if you are rich and you have money, you can buy the Indian examination system and this is the same feeling that the Opposition has.”
Questioning the Centre’s response to the NEET row, Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav said, “This government will make a record of paper leaks… There are some centres where more than 2,000 students have passed. As long as this minister is there, the students will not get justice.”
