NEET PG Results: Demand for answer key puts NBEMS’ transparency to question

It’s been three days since the results of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG) admissions for 2024 were released on August 23, and candidates have found several discrepancies in their results. 

These discrepancies range from 300 candidates scoring the same ranks, improper rationalisation between the marks in the two shifts, and inflated ranks.

Throughout the outrage of the candidates, they have been most vocal about two demands:

1. Releasing the raw and rationalised scores

2. Releasing the answer key of the two shifts

The demands posed by the candidates make one thing clear — the National Board of Examinations for Medical Sciences (NBEMS) is facing a huge trust deficit from medical aspirants. 

This is due to a lack of transparency in how the board conducts exams, say many aspirants and medical experts alike. 

Same story across the years

“Year after year, the NBE conducts exams without releasing the answer keys to them,” says Dr Dhruv Chauhan, National Council Member of the Indian Medical Association - Junior Doctors’ Network (IMA - JDN). He adds that with this year’s controversies surrounding the exam, there are more doubts about whether NEET PG was conducted fairly this year. 

To recall, NEET PG was supposed to be conducted on June 23, but was cancelled on the night of June 22 — barely 12 hours ahead of the exam. The NBEMS later announced that the exam would be conducted on August 11 in two shifts to prevent security breaches, and the scores would be normalised. 

When the admit slips were released on July 31, candidates found that the exam cities they were allotted were not based on the four preferences that they had listed, and were far from their cities of residence. 

Protesting this, candidates petitioned the Supreme Court requesting the postponement of the exam — to no success. 

“We knew that discrepancies like this would emerge after the exam,” said Dr Chauhan. 

Many candidates believe that the NBEMS should release the question-and-answer keys of the two shifts so that the confusion around their scores could be addressed even slightly. 

“It would be possible to check where we gained and lost marks, and we would be able to understand our scores better,” says Anu* (name changed), a candidate who appeared for the exam. 

However, she adds that the NBEMS is unlikely to do this, as its track record does not indicate otherwise. “From rescheduling the examination twice this year to allocating faraway centres arbitrarily, and the formula used for marks rationalisation — the NBE has not been open about any of these decisions, or its rationale behind them,” she says. 

It is a common practice in most exams in India, including the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE), Common University Entrance Test (CUET), the Union Public Service Commission Civil Service Examination (UPSC CSE) and more, to release the answer keys after the end of the exams. 

“How much can a candidate remember from their performance out of memory? It is important we see our OMR sheets and the question-answer keys, to know how we scored,” says Anu. 

A court case to note

In 2022, two NEET PG candidates filed a petition in the Supreme Court after they found a mismatch in their NEET PG scores that year and the NBEMS did not allow them to re-check their results. 

The petition mentioned the following points:

• NBE’s refusal to allow the petitioners’ their answer papers violated the set norms for all competitive exams

• There were serious discrepancies in the scores of the candidates who appeared for NEET PG in 2021 and 2022

The petitioners also referenced the Supreme Court’s judgement in the CBSE v Aditya Bandopadhyay case of 2011, wherein, it observed that each examinee had the right to access their answer sheets unless the exam was exempted under Section 8 (1)(e) of the Right To Information Act, 2005.

However, the petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court. 

Due to the NBE’s lack of openness and dialogue with the aspirants about the process, nobody would know if there were malpractices in the exam, candidates claim. 

For instance, Madhu* (name changed), another NEET PG candidate, says, “For all that we know, the exam could have been compromised, and the scores were manipulated as a cover-up. Perhaps the reason that the NBEMS does not release the answer keys is to prevent candidates from uncovering this.”

Such doubts and conspiracies only gain traction due to the lack of a transparent process, says Dr Dhruv Chauhan.

Opacity to blame

This opacity in the process has only compounded the feelings of stress, anxiety and disappointment being felt by candidates, Anu adds. “I wonder whether appearing for NEET PG next year is worth it or not, with such processes in place,” she laments. 

Dr Dhruv Chauhan points out that this was the first time that NEET PG aspirants are alleging discrepancies in the scores in the thousands and that the NBEMS owes them an explanation, or at least, a clarification.

“On what basis were the scores of the exams rationalised? Why did so many candidates receive marks in the same percentile? The NBEMS ought to open a portal for candidates to share their grievances, and address them,” he says.