State’s NEET aspirants file plea in SC, hearing today

SHILLONG, June 19: A group of ten National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) aspirants from Meghalaya have filed a petition before the Supreme Court of India seeking a retest.
Sources from the national capital told The Shillong Times on Wednesday that the NEET aspirants filed the petition on Tuesday and the hearing on the matter is likely to be taken up on Thursday.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had written to the National Testing Agency (NTA) over the discrepancies in the NEET examinations held in Jowai and Nongpoh centres but the agency did not respond to the CM’s letter.
Over 400 students, who had appeared the NEET examination in Nongpoh and Jowai, had approached the government with complaints of discrepancies like supply of different sets of question papers after which the state government decided to assist and help the students in filing the petition before the top court.
It is learnt that the government had asked Advocate General Amit Kumar to help the students prepare the petition.
Meanwhile, the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) on Wednesday questioned the delay by the state government in responding to the demand for reconduct of the NEET in Meghalaya.
“With regards to NEET 2024, the re-examination will take place soon for 1,563 candidates all over India, but it is sad that we have not seen any notification or statement on the part of the government as to whether our students who had faced the same problem as those of other states will be given the same opportunity or not,” KSU education secretary, Pynkmenlang Sanmiet said.
He lamented that the state government was playing with the future of the students. “There is no seriousness at all. The government has failed to address several issues of education and this is not the first time. For how many more years shall we witness such failure? There was no proper guidance to those involved in different testing centres be it for NEET or CUET.”