Education ministry panel to look into NEET grace marks controversy, report in a week

A committee set up by the education ministry will examine the issue of "grace" marks awarded to some 1,600 students who appeared for the NEET-UG medical entrance examination, the director general of the National testing Agency (NTA) said on Saturday.

The four-member panel, headed by a former head of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), is expected to submit its recommendations within a week, following which the government will take a decision on the need for revision of the marks scored by students who received "grace" points in the pre-medical entrance test, NTA's Subodh Kumar Singh said.

Results of the exam were declared on June 4.


The matter has snowballed into a political controversy. The Congress has demanded an investigation, the Tamil Nadu government has sought details of NTA's evaluation methods, the Aam Aadmi Party has termed it a "scam", and now even the BJP coalition government in Maharashtra is seeking cancellation of the exam. Several state governments and stakeholders have also threatened to move court on the matter.

Questions have been raised on a range of issues--from the unexpectedly high cut-offs to compensatory marks given to several candidates for loss of time. Declared results showed that 720 candidates achieved full marks (720/720) and 67 students shared the first rank. Also, eight toppers were from one centre alone.

The NTA's DG assured in a press conference on Saturday that there was no irregularity of any kind and the issue of "grace" marks was being examined by the high-level committee.