"LKG exams have more credibility than this...": Congress MP Shafi Parambil on postponement of NEET-PG exam
Jun 23, 2024
Ernakulam (Kerala) [India], June 24 : Congress MP Shafi Parambil on Sunday slammed the central government following the postponement of the NEET-PG examination and said that the government has committed a "heinous crime" by playing with the future of a country adding that the LKG exams have more "credibility" than this.
"Even the LKG exams have more credibility than this. The government's involvement in this is not at all neat and clean... This is the most heinous crime a government can do against the future of a country... This is done on the basis of merit. You cannot leak these question papers because those people who come out of these exams are considered to be our future doctors and engineers," Congress MP told ANI.
He further questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi on being "silent" on this issue.
"The minister is not taking responsibility. Nobody is stepping down. They are just watching the game from the gallery. Even the enquiry is declared now because of the pressure from the families and the political parties... The government wants nothing to come out of this... Who is responsible for this?... Why is the PM still silent on this?... Why is the PM not acting promptly," he asked.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare postponed the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) Examination on Saturday, which was scheduled to be held on Sunday and said that a fresh date will be announced at the earliest.
The NEET-PG exams were scheduled to be held on June 23.
This postponement of NEET-PG exams came on the heels of the decision to remove Subodh Kumar Singh from his position as Director-General of the National Testing Agency, which has come under fire for an alleged paper leak and irregularities in the NEET-UG examination, and other examinations which it conducts.
"Taking into consideration, the recent incidents of allegations regarding the integrity of certain competitive examinations, the Ministry of Health has decided to undertake a thorough assessment of the robustness of the processes of the NEET-PG Entrance Examination, conducted by the National Board of Examination for medical students," the ministry statement read."It has accordingly been decided, as a precautionary measure, to postpone the NEET-PG Entrance Examination, scheduled to be held on 23rd June 2024. The fresh date of this examination will be notified at the earliest," the ministry added."
The Ministry of Health sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to the students. This decision has been taken in the best interests of the students and to maintain the sanctity of the examination process," the health ministry said.
The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the NEET-UG exams, is facing criticism over alleged irregularities in the exams. This resulted in several protests across the country, with protestors and political parties demanding to disband the NTA.
An unprecedented 67 candidates achieved a perfect score of 720 marks out of 720, which added to the concerns.
The Ministry of Education said it has constituted a high-level committee of experts to make recommendations on reforms in the mechanism of the examination process, improvements in data security protocols and the functioning of the NTA.
The 7-member committee, led by ISRO former chairman Dr K. Radhakrishnan, will submit its report to the ministry in the next two months.