The NEET Fiasco

The sorry episode undermining the exam's credibility, crushing hopes of lakhs of students, signals the urgent need to hit a process reset. EPISODE #182

Dear Reader,

A very happy Monday to you.

On 4 June, nearly 24 lakh students were informed of the outcome of their medical entrance exam: NEET or National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate). It unleashed one of the most sorry spectacles of public policy failure.

Over the last few weeks, things have gone from bad to worse. Either this is a rare coincidence, when so many things go wrong at the same time, or it is a sinister conspiracy, as is being argued in some quarters, to stoke a crisis in civil society. If indeed it is the latter, I hope the authorities, courts come down hard on the perpetrators. Show no mercy.

Regardless, the unfortunate truth is that the entire process of NEET is flawed. It is an abject failure on the part of the government, the incumbent and its predecessor, not to acknowledge this, despite several red flags since it was launched in 2010. A disaster was waiting to happen. If not now, later.

Undoubtedly, the elephant in the room is the National Testing Agency (NTA)—especially its structure, status and the governing board.

The political timing, from the point of the view of NDA 3.0 couldn’t be worse. The entire episode has served the already feisty opposition perfect fodder just ahead of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha.

This week I explore the NEET fiasco and its attendant implications.

The cover picture of a wild elephant is taken by Rahul Sharma during his recent trip to Sri Lanka. I thought it was the perfect metaphor for this week’s subject.

Happy reading.

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Pix by Rahul Sharma

Disaster Foretold

Since 4 June, a most unfortunate spectacle is playing out before us.

It began with the announcement of the results of the NEET or National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate). Almost every day thereafter, we have uncovered even bigger missteps, including scrapping of the post-graduate medical entrance exam on account of a paper leak.

To put it very bluntly, the integrity of the medical entrance test taken by an estimated 23.33 lakh students is undermined. The matter, no surprises here, has come under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court.

Worse, it is now cannon fodder for an already feisty opposition. Especially, since this is the first scent of a scandal impacting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in their decade in office.

This is unlike the tenure of its predecessor, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, which was undermined by a series of corruption scandals—many of which are still playing out in the courts.

A defensive government is unlikely to yield ground—or will at least try and push back. In short the prospects of a productive first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, which begins today, can be discounted even as it politically tests NDA 3.0.

I must admit up front that I had no first hand knowledge about NEET. So, I did the next best thing a journalist will do: spoke to a domain expert in Ramgopal Rao.

He is the Vice-Chancellor of Birla Institute of Technology and Science and former IIT-Delhi director, and hence knows more than a thing or two about managing competitive entrance exams. This conversation will air on StratNews Global later this week—so watch for it this Thursday at 7 pm.

The Complexity Mine Field

The big takeaway from the conversation with Rao was that there was nothing wrong with the idea of NEET—holding a national pre-medical exam.

The problem was with the implementation, especially given the complexity of the challenge. And, these complexities got progressively amplified in recent years as more and more students enlisted for the exam.

I am not sure if you know that 23.33 lakh students took the NEET exam this year—14.4% higher than the 20.38 lakh who appeared for it in 2023.

If numbers are daunting, then the fact that the exam is conducted in 13 languages should reveal the complexity of conducting this pre-medical exam.

These tests were conducted at 4,750 centres spread across 571 cities, both within India and abroad. The 14 foreign locations are: Kuwait City, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Colombo, Doha, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, Manama, Muscat, Riyadh, Sharjah and Singapore.

To conduct a pen-and-paper test in such challenging circumstances is a gigantic task to say the least. It can happen, but requires enormous logistics and security support. For instance, in China this test, Gaokao, is conducted under tight military supervision.

Given this backdrop, there was always the chance of one of the many moving parts coming unstuck—either by accident or design—and derailing the entire process. Exactly what happened this time and why I said earlier that this was a disaster waiting to happen.

This brings us to the National Testing Agency (NTA)—at first sight, a sinecure for retired IAS (Indian Administrative Service) personnel (the classic institutional capture that the elite bureaucracy has indulged in for ever)—which conducts NEET.

Don’t get me wrong. It is unfair to condemn the entire bureaucracy, because of a few bad eggs; just calling out this unfortunate practice among the IAS to seek out sinecures just ahead of their superannuation.

Over the weekend (as I wrote this newsletter) the government fired the NTA chief—and no surprise, replaced him with another IAS officer.

Further, the government set up a high-level expert panel under K Radhakrishnan, the former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, to recommend ways to reform the exam system.

These moves comes just ahead of the first day of the 18th Lok Sabha. While the government may mean well and deserve the benefit of doubt, there is no denying the argument that this is also a case of damage control—it preempts most of the arguments being made by the opposition.

At another level it is clear that some rethink on the NEET process is underway. Frankly, long overdue. I believe the government has to bite the bullet and go beyond the temptation of indulging in cosmetic fixes—this will only be kicking the can down the road.

NEET History

While the opposition does enjoy the upper hand for the moment, they may pause to reflect on their own contribution to NEET.

It was proposed by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on 21 December 2010. And, this was with good reason. At that time there were multitude of entrance exams (46) conducted across the country without any checks or balances on the standards of examination. To shrink this to one common national exam, therefore made eminent sense.

Unfortunately, as was the norm in UPA’s case, brilliant ideas were often uncooked or orphaned. Aadhaar, the 12-digit national identity and India’s calling card to the world today, was almost nixed because of intra-party rivalry in the Congress. And UPA’s failure to provide legal guardrails, landed Aadhaar in the crosshairs of privacy warriors and the Supreme Court.

NEET was no different. The existing All-India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) was adapted as the forerunner to NEET, and was launched. The exam was conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

NEET was introduced in 2012. However, it was struck down by the Supreme Court the following year and AIPMT was revived and continued till 2016, when the apex court revisited its order and restored NEET.

One big challenge even back then was to ensure the integrity of the entrance exam. There were allegations of exam paper leaks—in fact, the AIPMT was cancelled in 2015 by the Supreme Court, following reports of a paper leak.

Therefore, the idea of NEET actually enjoys bipartisan support. In that sense it is a legacy the NDA inherited. But, they forgot the cardinal rule: Trust, but verify.

And there were enough red flags to suggest that the pre-medical exam process was flawed and always vulnerable to some snafu.

Time for A New Avatar?

Based on my conversation with Ramgopal Rao, it is clear that the primary challenge is that NTA. At present this body which conducts NEET, is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Human Resources.

This is unlike the Election Commission, which just conducted a flawless general election in which 642 million people voted. This institution enjoys constitutional status.

The power that comes with this recognition cannot be trifled with by anybody. For instance the EC has the power to order the arrest of anyone violating electoral protocols.

For that matter, the Union Public Services Commission or UPSC, which conducts the annual civil services examination, too is similarly empowered. An estimated 11-12 lakh—half the number that take NEET—aspiring civil servants take this exam every year. Do you ever hear anything about paper leaks?

I am not suggesting that this may not happen. But it diminishes the chances substantially. As Rao puts it:

“The whole structure (of NTA) is something, that I have my own concerns. As a department within the Ministry, (it is) under the direct administrative control of minister and secretary (of the ministry).”

And then argued that NTA should be accorded constitutional status.

“NTA conducts such a high stakes exam. UPSC also conducts major exams in the country, but it has a constitutional status, and it has its own dedicated staff. There is a process to the whole thing. There are UPSC members, and even the way they conduct interviews is all very systematic. I believe NTA is equal to UPSC.”

The erudite professor then goes on to argue that it is time India abandoned the pen-paper mode of conducting the test and opted instead for an online operation like the SAT, the standardised test used for admissions to colleges in the United States.

Given the massive scale, Rao, suggests the creation of a large question bank and staggering the test over six months—this also provides students the flexibility to retake the exam if they so desire.

“The BITS Pilani exam is conducted this way (online). You can go choose your slot, and take the exam. You get the results immediately afterwards, know the approximate score. As a result, you don't even have to wait for results to be announced. This I believe also brings in transparency.”

What Rao proposes makes a lot of sense.

Its implementation requires political will though. Given that NDA 3.0 seems cornered by its opponents, this kind of a radical move could be politically expedient. The shock and awe could silence the critics.

Most importantly, it will assure the youth of India that the system is not out to get them. We owe it to them.

As the cliche goes, a case of killing several birds with one stone.

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Recommended Viewing/Reading

Sharing the latest post of Capital Calculus on StratNews Global.

For most of the last 75 years India has struggled to deliver on its development goals. Largely due to lack of state capacity. Unfortunately, instead of identifying this as the primary challenge, the common refrain is that the problem is the lack of resources. The lack of state capacity means even the extra resources funnelled through the system do not work—worse they are intercepted by corrupt intermediaries.

Coincidentally, a book—Accelerating India’s Development—just hit the stands. Its author, Karthik Muralidharan, hits the nail on the head by identifying the lack of state capacity as the most pressing challenge. A super bright economist, he is deeply familiar with the functioning of the union and state governments. The conversation with Karthik, as expected, was outstanding and insightful. Do watch.

Sharing the link below.

Till we meet again next week, stay safe.

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Thank You!

Finally, a big shoutout to Surendra, Gautam and Premasundaran for your informed responses, kind appreciation and amplification of last week’s column. Once again, grateful for the conversation initiated by all readers. Gratitude also to all those who responded on Twitter (X) and Linkedin. 

Unfortunately, Twitter has disabled amplification of Substack links—perils of social media monopolies operating in a walled garden framework. I would be grateful therefore if you could spread the word. Nothing to beat the word of mouth.

Reader participation and amplification is key to growing this newsletter community. And, many thanks to readers who hit the like button😊.