After the National Testing Agency (NTA) released individual scores of approximately 23.5 lakh candidates who appeared for the NEET-UG 2024 examination, the data indicated that some centers have a high concentration of well-performing students.
A total of 37 centers from Rajasthan's Sikar district are among the country’s 50 top-scoring National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET) centers, according to media reports.
These are examination centers with the highest percentage of candidates scoring above 650 marks, out of 720.
In each center in Rajasthan's Sikar, over 75 NEET-UG candidates have scored above 600 marks with the number going up to 150 at a few centers.
The center-wise result in Rajasthan's Sikar shows that the number of average candidates scoring above 600 in the district is much higher than the national average.
Over 27,000 candidates appeared at exam centers in Sikar out of which over 4200 have scored above 600.
The NTA, which initially announced the results on June 4, has now published the results in the center-wise and city-wise format following an order by the Supreme Court.
The apex court is hearing several petitions as the exam has been controversial since reports of a question paper leak emerged last month. Candidates have alleged irregularities in the conduct of the exam, including paper leaks.
According to the city-wise and center-wise results, out of the total 4,750 centers where the entrance test was held this year, over 100 centers had more than three times the share of high-scoring candidates (scores exceeding 600 out of 720 marks) than the national average, shows NTA data.
This year, the number of candidates who scored 600 and above out of 720 marks in the examination was a little over 81,000 (or 3.49 per cent). However, in 2023, there were only 29,351 such candidates (1.43 per cent of the total), and in 2022, there were 21,164 candidates (1.19 per cent of the total).
In Gujarat, over 240 NEET-UG candidates who appeared for the medical entrance test at a center in Rajkot, scored more than 600 marks, with 11 of them getting 700 and above, and one a perfect 720. A total of 148 candidates scored above 650 but below 700.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested various people from Gujarat, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Haryana including students, parents and members of 'paper solver' gangs, in connection with the alleged leak of the question paper of the May 5 NEET-UG exam.
The NEET-UG 2024 was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad, for more than 24 lakh candidates.
There have been calls from several quarters for a re-test of NEET-UG 2024 over the mentioned anomalies.
However, the NTA has maintained that the leak was on a localized basis, and the beneficiaries were already identified and debarred and there is no need for cancelation of the test.
The top court will resume hearing the arguments in the matter on July 22 on a batch of pleas seeking cancelation, re-test and a court-monitored probe into the allegations of malpractice in the prestigious exam.
(With PTI inputs)
.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
