NEET has always been a controversial educational system for its biased and prejudicial gateway in permitting the medical aspirants to pursue their medical studies. With having no strong roots and acceptance across the country, the national entrance exam has been a nightmare for many students in chasing their dream of becoming a doctor amid facing mental and financial distress. 

This year, amid having been caught with the COVID-19 outbreak, around 13.6 lakh students had appeared for the exam across the country that held on September 13, 2020. The results were published on October 16 and the results were surfaced with larger mess and controversies after there were several discrepancies in the results, the number of students appeared, and the pass percentage. Following the results, two Tamil Nadu aspirants have alleged that their answer sheets were changed and demanded the Center to intervene in the matter.  

Their demand has come after there was a huge difference in their final marks and the marks they projected. According to reports, two medical aspirants from Coimbatore and Ariyalur districts of Tamil Nadu had alleged that their Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets have been altered, and with the pain, they had urged the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the exam, to pay heed to their demands, intervene in the matter, and remove the discrepancies. 

17-year-old Manju, a native of Kudikadi in Ariyalur district, had shocked to learn her result. She alleged that the OMR sheet she downloaded doesn't belong to her. She had taken multiple mock and practice tests ahead of appearing for the NEET and while she scored nearly to 700 in all the practice tests, the final result had shown that she had scored only 37 marks, which left her in deep distress. 

Speaking to media about her distress, Manju said she always wanted to be a doctor and when she checked the answer key after the exam, she was confident that she would be scoring over 600 out of 720. When the date of results was announced, she was expecting her mark and when she downloaded the OMR sheet after the result, the total came to 48 and the result had shown that she had scored 37. 

Manju had demanded her original answer sheet and her mother said the downloaded OMR sheet doesn't belong to her. Manju's mother had asserted that her daughter had left only three questions and she had prepared for the exam day and night and urged to provide the original answer sheet. Along with Manju, 17-year-old Manoj, a native of Karumathampatti in Coimbatore, had faced a similar nightmare. 

Manoj had prepared for the NEET through a private coaching center in the district and after the exam, he had checked his answer many times online and compared it to the answer key released by the coaching agency. According to his calculations, Manoj was confident that he would be scoring over 500 marks. However, when the results came, it had shocked him and his family as he only had scored 248 out of 720. 

Speaking to the media, Manoj said that he had scored 594 when he calculated his marks with the OMR sheet on October 15 and his relatives had also checked the next day and they hoped to get a projected score. However, he was shocked to learn the final score of 248. Following the development, Manoj had called the NEET helplines to understand the issue and he hadn't received any satisfactory response. 

The reports say that Manoj and his relatives had visited the NEET website and downloaded his OMR sheet on Saturday following which he had observed discrepancies that weren't present in his original answer sheet. Manoj alleged that the answer sheet was changed. By asserting that his signature and roll number were correct, Manoj said the answer sheet doesn't belong to him as the answers marked were different. 

Following the shocking developments, both the aspirants had demanded the revaluation and urged the NTA to intervene in the matter. Manoj and his family had filed a complaint to the testing agency through the mail by attaching the screenshots of his original OMR and the downloaded sheet while Manju had approached the media for further help in getting her demand fulfilled. 

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