Congress MP Hibi Eden speaks in the Lok Sabha on July 22, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Congress MP Hibi Eden on Monday termed the irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG exam as the "biggest scam" and demanded that a high-level committee be constituted to look into incidents of paper leaks.
"In recent years, India has witnessed a troubling rise in the competitive exam paper leaks, undermining the integrity and credibility of the education and recruitment system. As per the government data, a total of 70 examination papers have been leaked in the last seven years in 15 states," the Ernakulam MP said in Lok Sabha.
"States like Tamil Nadu, many other regional parties have raised concern about the integrity of these exams and they want these exams to be cancelled...", he said. The Congress MP raised concerns about the irregularities reported from different centres where the NEET exam had been conducted.
"The NTA faced widespread allegations of irregularities and paper leaks, notably with 67 top-ranking candidates scoring 99.99 percentile, including six from a single examination centre in Haryana. Who owns these centres?" he said. "In Gujarat, the NTA had selected school in Godhara as an examination centre, despite the fact that Gujarat High Court has imposed a fine of Rs. 35 lakhs on the organisation that runs these schools. What credibility do these exams have? Gujarat schools, Haryana schools, are all under scrutiny," he said.
He called it one of the "biggest scams", and demanded a probe. "This is one of the biggest scams the country has seen, the country has to constitute a high level committee... to enquire about the allegations," he said. Speaker Om Birla said the matter is being probed and added that India has the "best" examination system in the world.
"The Supreme Court and CBI are probing the issue. The Centre has brought a Bill. Why are you raising the issue then? Our system is so good, our examination system is the best in the world. Why are you raking it up?" Birla said. The Supreme Court is hearing a batch of petitions related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam, NEET-UG 2024.
The CBI took over the probe into alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam following a reference from the Union education ministry. In February, The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, which has provisions for a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine up to Rs 1 crore, was passed by Parliament.