NEW DELHI: As protests by opposition leaders and student unions rage on, the NEET-UG retest for 1,563 candidates will be held today between 2 and 5 pm at seven centres with National Testing Agency and Union education ministry officials present at the examination centres.
The National Testing Agency (NTA), under fire over the lapses in the conduct of NEET and UGC-NET, is gearing up to conduct on Sunday (June 23) a retest for the medical entrance exam for 1,563 candidates who were earlier awarded compensatory marks to make up for the loss of time at six centres in Meghalaya, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Chandigarh.
The restest is happening due to the withdrawal of these grace marks.
The seven centres where the retest will be conducted today are new except for the one in Chandigarh, where only two candidates will appear, said a senior NTA official.
On June 13, an NTA notification had stated that re-examination would be conducted for the affected candidates on June 23 between 2 to 5 PM. The result is tentatively scheduled for June 30.
On the same day, the Supreme Court had ruled that for those candidates who opt to take the re-examination, their actual marks in the re-test will be considered as their final result. Thus, marks from their previous May 5 test will stand invalid.
The re-conducted of the exam was announced following allegations of irregularities in NEET-UG, including paper leaks.
The NEET-UG examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates appeared in it.
The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, with the NTA saying the evaluation of the answer sheets got completed earlier.
As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities.
It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.
"While all other examination centres have changed, one centre in Chandigarh, where only two candidates will appear, will remain the same. Besides, officials from the agency and Union education ministry will also be present at these centres. The step has been taken to ensure smooth conduct of the re-exam," the senior NTA official added.
The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry had on Saturday announced that the NEET-PG Entrance Examination, scheduled to be held on June 23, has been postponed.
(NEET-UG retest candidates are advised to download their respective Admit Cards from exams.nta.ac.in/NEET/ by using their respective application number and date of birth.)
With inputs from PTI