Bright student scores zero in NEET, Telangana High Court intervenes

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to produce in court the answer sheet of a ‘meritorious’ student from Hyderabad, who scored zero in the NEET (UG) exam conducted in September.

It issued the direction on December 21 and gave the NTA time till January 4, 2021 to submit the answer sheet. The student has alleged discrepancy in the marking of her OMR answer sheet, claims that she had answered 128 questions and was expecting a score of around 277. “The petitioner, who claims to be a meritorious student, was awarded zero marks. In the circumstances, the respondents shall produce the answer sheet of the petitioner on January 4, 2021,” the HC noted.

Hyderabad-based activist and Telangana State general secretary of the Socialist Party (India), Dr Lubna Sarwath, said, “When an RTI query was filed with the NTA asking for a photocopy of the student’s OMR answer sheet, the agency refused to share it and replied that she had not attempted even a single question. But she claims to have answered 128 questions. There are many in the country who took the exam and are claiming that they were wrongly given zero marks.” 

According to the NTA rules, students, who want to check the physical copy of their answer sheets are advised to visit the agency’s office in Noida. “It is an arbitrary demand and a daunting task for any student to either travel to Noida or pay Rs 1,000 per question for revaluation, as per the NTA rules,” Dr Lubna Sarwath, Hyderabad-based activist and Telangana State general secretary of the Socialist Party (India), said.