NEET 2018: CBSE conducts NEET on behalf of the Health Ministry
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has moved the Supreme Court against the order of the Madras High Court to award 196 marks to all candidates who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in Tamil this year.
As first reported by the Indian Express, the board was mulling to challenge High Court’s decision. Last week, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court ordered the CBSE to give four marks each for 49 questions to roughly 24,000 examinees on account of ambiguities in the Tamil translation of the said questions. The Board has been given two weeks to bring out a fresh list of qualified candidates.
CBSE conducts NEET on behalf of the Health Ministry and the counselling process has already started.
Implementing the High Court order, the government feels, could lead to more litigation as it would push a large number of candidates out of the current merit list. That apart, awarding an additional 196 marks to those who took the test in Tamil could also result in some candidates scoring more than the total marks. The NEET-2018 paper, for admission to medical and dental colleges, had 180 questions with total 720 marks.
“Moreover, the NEET bulletin clearly states that candidates opting for regional languages will be given a bi-lingual question paper and, in case of any ambiguity in translation, the English version will be treated as final,” said a source in the HRD Ministry explaining one of the grounds on which the CBSE could approach the apex court against the High Court order.