The controversy around National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admissions has come as a shock to those students who have secured good marks. One such aspirant is Kartikeya Gupta from Lucknow. He secured 685 marks out of 720, and was hoping to get into a good college. But with coaching institutes, parents and some students taking the legal route and demanding the entrance exam to be re-conducted, the youngster is anxious about the future. The Supreme Court has refused to defer the counselling date, scheduled for July 6.
“I am disturbed by what has happened. When a student prepares for exam, he/she has a date in mind. Nobody cares about what will happen after that. Nobody has a backup plan, all of us trust the government and the entire system that something like this will never happen,” Kartikeya told NDTV.
“Now this uncertainty a month after the exam is making students like me nervous,” he added.
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The NEET exam was held on May 5 and results came out on June 4. This was Kartikeya’s second attempt and his score increased from 501 to 685 this year.
“I was happy that I will at least get a good college. But after the entire NEET controversy unfolded, new facts are emerging every day. I am anxious and want to know what will happen now,” said Kartikeya. The aspirant blamed students who try to pass by buying papers instead of studying.
He said it takes an entire year to set a rhythm, and now it is difficult to make it. Kartikeya said he doesn’t want a re-test.
Kartikeya’s mother Preeti Gupta is also angry with this whole controversy. She said that parents give their all for the education of the child, but despite the good results, the future of her son hangs in balance.
“We were very happy with his marks and I am urging the government not to cancel the exam,” Mrs Gupta told NDTV, adding that children have to suffer due to a flaw in the system.
The controversy began after an unprecedented 67 candidates achieved a perfect score of 720 marks out of 720, which led to protests across the country.
The government ordered re-conduct of the exam for 1,563 students who had experienced time loss during the originally scheduled examination and received grace marks, according to the National testing Agency (NTA). The re-test happened on Monday but only 52 per cent of the candidates appeared for it.
Amid the NEET irregularities allegations, the Centre postponed the NEET-PG exam a day ahead of its postponed date and cancelled the UGC-NET exam conducted on June 18.
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a criminal case based on a written complaint from the Director of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education over NEET irregularities.
