Organised foul play behind NEET fiasco: Rajan Gurukkal

Kerala State Higher Education Council vice-chairperson Rajan Gurukkal has expressed deep concern over the recent NEET fiasco

Kerala State Higher Education Council vice-chairperson Rajan Gurukkal has expressed deep concern over the recent NEET fiasco, highlighting serious flaws in the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) conduct of the examinations.

The scandal, he added, has rocked the aspirations of 24 lakh medical aspirants across the country and raised significant questions about the integrity of India’s premier medical entrance test.

Professor Gurukkal criticised NTA for its alleged incompetence and lack of transparency. The NEET scam of 2024, the academic pointed out in a statement, is a stark reminder of systemic failures within our national testing framework.

“It (the scam) raises questions as to why the NTA proved to be incompetent and failed during a short span of five years. What prevented NTA from achieving the level of efficiency, transparency and the credibility of any of the international testing agencies like Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL),” he asked.

Prof. Gurukkal alleged an “organised foul play” driven by a nexus involving the coaching industry behind the botched examination conduct. Such dubious activities are evident in the aberrant decisions of NTA officials to postpone the NEET examinations several times before announcing the results in haste, seemingly to coincide with the election results.

“A transparent examination system of credibility is feasible only with in collaboration with the State governments, and with a question bank comprising well-framed questions, and digital technology enabled proctoring,” he said.