The National Testing Agency (NTA) informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports on July 1 that it is working to declare NEET UG results more quickly to prevent delays in counselling. The re-exam was held on June 21 after the original May 3 exam was cancelled due to an alleged paper leak.
Parallelised Result Processing
During a presentation, the NTA outlined plans to institutionalise parallelised result processing. “We are institutionalising parallelised result processing, running the answer key challenge concurrently with scanning as a repeatable way to declare results faster and protect the admission and counselling faster,” the agency told the panel. Currently, result declaration takes about 45 days, with the answer key challenge starting only after OMR scanning is complete, adding four to five days. A delayed result would push back medical college admissions and counselling.
Call for Statutory Status
The committee suggested that the NTA be transformed into a statutory body through an act of Parliament, so it operates with a codified liability standard toward the candidates it examines. The NTA was established in 2017 as a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
NEET Answer Key Challenge
The NEET answer key challenge allows candidates to contest the provisional answer key. If a candidate believes an official answer is incorrect, they can submit an online objection with standard textbook references. If a panel of experts accepts the challenge, the answer key is revised and the challenge fee is refunded.
Re-exam and Investigation
The NEET re-exam was conducted on June 21 after the original May 3 exam was cancelled over an alleged paper leak. The CBI continues its investigation. The NTA briefed the committee on how it sought help from the Department of Posts and Indian Air Force to conduct the re-test.
Former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, who heads the high-powered committee overseeing NTA reforms, also briefed the panel. Chairman of the parliamentary panel, Mukul Wasnik, said, “The meeting was very good and informative. The input we received during the course of our deliberations will help the committee reach a conclusion.”
