SP students' wing holds protest over NEET-UG exam row

Lucknow, Jun 21 (PTI) The Samajwadi Party's students' wing on Friday held a protest over the alleged irregularities in medical entrance exam NEET-UG, claiming that the test was rigged and its question paper leaked.

Members of the Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha (SCS) also submitted a memorandum to authorities addressed to the President at the Bapu Bhavan intersection in Lucknow.

The SCS has demanded the cancellation of the exam as well as reexamination, Samajwadi Party chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said in a statement. He alleged that during the protest, police used force against the students. They tried to stop them from protesting, Chaudhary claimed.

The SCS also held protests in other parts of Uttar Pradesh. In its memorandum, the Samajwadi Party's students' wing also demanded the National Testing Agency that conducts the exam should be scrapped and a case filed against it.

The NEET-UG examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates appeared for it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, saying the evaluation of the answer sheets got completed earlier.

As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank. PTI NAV ANB ANB