The National Testing Agency on Monday claimed that images of answer sheets from the undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test that were widely shared on social media were “digitally fabricated”.
The NEET-UG exam for seats in medical colleges was conducted for a second time on June 21 after the NTA cancelled the original exam held on May 3 following allegations of a question paper leak.
The re-examination results were declared on July 16. Subsequently, some candidates alleged that the optical mark recognition answer sheets uploaded against their roll numbers did not belong to them, had been interchanged or showed fewer attempted answers than they had marked, The Indian Express reported.
Optical Mark Recognition is a system that reads answers marked by candidates by detecting filled bubbles or marks on an answer sheet.
The NTA said on Monday that it examined each representation individually and found that its official records remained consistent in every case reviewed so far.
It said genuine answer sheets held by the agency carried the correct roll number, booklet number, barcode, candidate details, signatures, thumb impression and invigilators’ signatures, and that the declared scores matched the official answer key and evaluation records.
The agency also issued case-by-case responses with respect to five candidates – Avaneesh Srivastava, Pratibha Trivedi, Abhay Yadav, Lakshya Singh and Arya Singh – whose allegations of discrepancies had been widely shared on social media.
It said the optical mark recognition sheets for all five candidates had been correctly evaluated and their scores remained as declared.
According to the testing agency, the disputed images were digitally regenerated or altered versions of the candidates’ genuine answer sheets.
In Srivastava’s case, the agency said the genuine answer sheet bearing his details was on record and had also been emailed to him during the response key challenge window. It said the circulated image carried the identity of “Ajeet Singh”, a person who did not exist in the NEET-UG database.
It further alleged that printed sections had been regenerated using artificial intelligence or optical character recognition-based tools while identity fields had been overwritten. The agency said his score of 337 had been verified.
The agency also rejected Trivedi's claim that she should have scored about 640 marks instead of 38. It said the genuine answer sheet was on record and had been emailed to her during the challenge window, while the image being circulated was a significantly altered digital version.
In Yadav's case, the NTA said his public claim that he had left only five questions unanswered did not match the official answer sheet, which showed 44 unanswered questions.
For Lakshya Singh, the agency said the circulated image contained additional answer bubbles that had been digitally shaded.
Responding to Arya Singh’s case, the agency said the image being circulated was a digitally altered version of her genuine answer sheet. It said the recorded time of one invigilator’s signature had been changed from 3.45 pm to 2.45 pm and that there were several other signs of digital alteration.
The NTA said it had identified several methods used to create fake examination documents. These included using artificial intelligence-based image tools to regenerate printed sections of answer sheets, digitally overwriting candidate details while leaving barcodes and answer bubbles unchanged and altering marks or response counts on downloaded scorecards without changing embedded barcodes.
The agency has warned that creating, possessing, submitting or circulating fabricated, digitally altered or AI-generated answer sheets, scorecards or other examination documents is a cognisable offence under the 2024 Public Examinations Prevention of Unfair Means Act.
It added that action could also be taken under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act and said legal proceedings could extend to third parties involved in preparing or circulating forged documents.
The clarification comes amid a sustained protest by the Cockroach Janta Party in Delhi. The political campaign has been staging a sit-in at Jantar Mantar since late June, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged mismanagement of competitive examinations.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk began a hunger strike on June 28 in support of the campaign.
On Monday, protesters attempted to march to Parliament, where they were stopped by security personnel.
Written by Sara Varghese. Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.
Read more updates on the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest march here.
You’ve read Scroll.
Now help sustain it
Scroll is funded by readers, not corporate owners. If you believe our work matters, support our newsroom. Become a member today!
We’re not driven by clicks or corporate interests – just honest, independent reporting. Keep us going. Support Scroll today!