NTA probe finds NEET OMR sheets ‘completely AI-generated’, tampered; legal action likely

The National Testing Agency (NTA) said on Saturday that its investigation had found that one controversial NEET OMR form was “generated entirely by artificial intelligence” while another was tampered with, after candidates alleged huge discrepancies between their recorded answers and their final scores. Ardhra Nair from The Times of India.

The findings came hours after two students from Maharashtra alleged irregularities in their NEET results. NTA said that after examining the documents submitted by them, it will take legal action against candidates found to have distributed fake or manipulated OMR forms to discredit the examination process.

One of the complaints came from a student in Pune who claimed to have received two different OMR sheets, one downloaded from the NTA website on the night of July 13 and the other sent via email on July 15. Although both bore his name, the answers marked on the pages were different.

According to the student’s father, “When we compared the OMR downloaded by my son on July 13 with the official answer key, we calculated 707 marks out of 720. However, when the results were declared, he scored only 217 marks as per the second OMR paper.”

In another case from Beed, TOIA student claimed that although the OMR paper uploaded by NTA matched his answers, he was given only 95 marks despite calculating that he should have scored 522 marks as per the final answer key.

After reviewing the material submitted by the Pune candidate, NTA concluded that the controversial OMR page was “completely generated by artificial intelligence”. In the Beed case, the OMR document was said to have been tampered with.
“NTA closely monitors and investigates all complaints. Following the revelation that many OMR forms submitted for review were fake/AI-generated, students and parents are advised to submit only original OMRs for review. Any fake/AI-generated OMR may lead to legal action against the complainant,” NTA said in a statement late on Saturday. he said.

Around 20 lakh candidates appeared for the NEET exam this year, of which 11.21 lakh qualified for admission in undergraduate medical, dental, AYUSH and allied programs.