The Himachal Pradesh state committee of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) has demanded that the National Testing Agency (NTA) release the attendance data of candidates who appeared for the NEET-UG re-examination held on June 21.
Addressing a press conference here, SFI state president Anil Thakur said that around 22 lakh candidates had appeared for the NEET-UG examination held on May 3, which was later cancelled following allegations of a paper leak.
“The NTA announced a re-examination on June 21. However, several centres across the country reported an unexplained gap between the number of candidates who had registered for the exam and those who actually appeared,” he said.
“While around 22 lakh students appeared in the earlier examination, the NTA, in its statement, said that more than 20 lakh aspirants took the re-examination. This raises concerns about the circumstances under which nearly two lakh candidates did not appear for the test,” he said.
“The cancellation of the previous examination adversely affected aspirants and their families, forcing around 21 students to take their own lives. A large number of students were subjected to severe mental and psychological distress due to repeated paper leaks and continuous irregularities by the NTA and the Ministry of Education. The situation has further marginalised students from economically and socially weaker sections by pushing them into greater financial and emotional hardship,” Thakur alleged.
