Toppers with grace marks unhappy; others want to take NEET-UG again

Ravinder Saini

Rohtak, June 13

The Supreme Court’s directives for withdrawal of grace marks and re-examination of 1,563 candidates of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) has brought disappointment to those who scored cent per cent and near to it with grace marks. But those who were not awarded grace marks to compensate for loss of time want to take the exam again to prove their capability.

Unfair treatment to one exam centre

• The papers having wrong codes were distributed at two of three exam centres set up at Bahadurgarh town of Jhajjar district on May 5
• Around half an hour was wasted in the process of replacing the papers at both the centres, but grace marks were allegedly awarded to candidates of one centre while those at the other centre were deprived of grace marks

The papers having wrong codes were distributed at two of three exam centres set up at Bahadurgarh town of Jhajjar district on May 5. Around half an hour was wasted in the process of replacing the papers at both the centres, but grace marks were awarded to candidates of one centre while those at the other centre were reportedly deprived of grace marks.

The grace marks helped some of the candidates secure cent per cent and near to that mark.

“I am a little disappointed by the direction of re-examination but am ready to take the exam again. I was also thinking of qualifying on my own and not on grace marks. I appeal to other candidates too to take it as an opportunity and to believe in themselves for clearing the exam again,” said Anjali of Jhajjar who secured maximum 720 marks in NEET-UG.

Yash, another candidate who appeared at the same centre at Bahadurgarh and scored 718 with grace marks, said he was feeling that injustice was done to him twice during the exam. “First, wrong paper distribution at the exam centre wasted our time and secondly, I will have to reappear in it by preparing again. However, I am confident of performing well in this attempt as well,” he added.

Vinod, father of another candidate who appeared at another centre in Bahadurgarh but did not get grace marks, said re-examination of grace-mark holders was a welcome step but those who suffered loss of time due to wrong distribution of papers should also be allowed to reappear in the exam.

“What is the fault of those candidates who were not awarded grace marks despite losing time? Why one centre was chosen for grace marks and not the other?” he questioned.

Jagbir, another parent, said he was satisfied with the decision of re-examination as it would give another opportunity to those candidates who suffered loss of time due to distribution of wrong papers to prove their mettle. “Though my daughter got grace marks, she could not put in her full effort according to her talent due to time loss. Now, she has a good opportunity to give her best,” he added.

Meanwhile, The Tribune also talked to some teachers who give coaching for NEET-UG and a centre incharge over the allegations of cheating in the exam.

Principal of a Bahadurgarh-based private school where an exam centre was set up said schoolteachers were assigned the duty of invigilator during the exam and none of them was from a science background as there was a clear instruction that no teacher having science background would be appointed invigilator to prevent the possibility of cheating.

Ashok Kumar, who gives coaching to NEET aspirants, said cheating at exam centres was possible only in case of paper leak but there was no report of NEET-UG paper leak in the region. “Otherwise, the candidates do not have much time to cheat from slips due to the minimum period for attempting a large number of questions,” he added.