Acting on a tip-off received by the district collector, a team of additional district collector and district education officer (DEO) busted a cheating racket in NEET  exam for pre-medical aspirants in Gujarat’s Godhra today. 

The Panchmahal district education officer (DEO) has filed a complaint with the Godhra taluka police against three persons in this matter.

NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) is the national-level pre-medical entrance exam for students who want to pursue undergraduate medical courses in medical (MBBS), dental (BDS), and AYUSH (Indian systems of medicine including Ayurveda).

₹10 lakh for clearing NEET?

During the operation, an amount of ₹7 lakh was recovered from the car of deputy centre superintendent Tushar Bhatt in Godhra. Further probe revealed that each student had to pay  ₹10 lakh each to secure good marks in the NEET exam.

Bhatt’s WhatsApp chat revealed the data of six students on his phone.

The complaint by the DEO names Bhatt, who is also a teacher at the Jai Jalaram School in Godhra, Parashuram Roy, owner of Roy Overseas company, and Arif Vora, as the accused. The complaint has been filed for breach of trust, cheating and under the prevention of corruption act.

Entrance test issues galore in Gujarat 

Reacting to the incident, Yuvrajsinh Jadeja, a youth leader and activist, told Gujarat Samachar Digital, “This is not just a matter of cheating. This is playing with the future of hardworking students, and the medical system of the country.”

“If an unbiased probe is not launched on this, we will reach out to Vidhan Sabha, and will assemble even before the health minister of the state, if need be,” Jadeja added.

Jadeja had earlier exposed a scam in the recruitment of Vidya Sahayaks in Dahod. He also mentioned similar previous incidents including the exams of the forest department’s beat guard or junior clerk exams.

“Since no action was taken in the past, these incidents have become frequent now. Had we learnt something from previous scams, this could have been prevented,” he said.

Jadeja also highlighted the prevalence of unfair means in the NEET exam nationwide, saying that in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur, dummy candidates have appeared for the exam, and a scam similar to Gujarat was also reported from UP and Bihar.

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