Govt orders CBI probe into allegations of irregularities in NEET-UG exam

Education ministry takes action amidst rising concerns over exam malpractices and integrity

The Ministry of Education on Saturday announced that it has handed over the matter of alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) examination 2024 to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a comprehensive investigation.

“For transparency in the conduct of the examination process, the Ministry of Education, after a review, has decided to entrust the matter to the CBI for investigation,” the ministry stated.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) had conducted the NEET-UG on May 5 in pen and paper mode and announced its results on June 4.

The medical entrance examination was taken by around 2.4 million students across 4,750 centres across the country. As many as 67 students scored a perfect score of 720, unprecedented in the NTA’s history, with six from a single centre in Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about rigging.

“Certain cases of alleged irregularities, cheating, impersonation, and malpractices have been reported in NEET-UG, which was conducted on May 5,” the ministry said in its statement.

The move to hand over the case to the CBI comes after a flurry of decisions over alleged irregularities in conducting national-level competitive exams, including the removal of NTA Director General Subodh Kumar Singh and the formation of a seven-member high-level committee to oversee transparency and look into the functioning of the testing agency.

The CBI is also investigating the breach of integrity that led to the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam after several questions were found to be leaked on the darknet.

The Centre on Friday also operationalised the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, aiming to curb malpractices and irregularities in competitive exams. The act entails provisions for a maximum jail term of ten years and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore for offenders.

The education ministry added that the government is committed to ensuring the sanctity of examinations and protecting the interests of students.