NEET UG 2021: NTA to examine alleged error in Hindi translation of physics question

NEW DELHI: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has agreed before the Supreme Court to examine the alleged error in Hindi translation of a physics question in the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) UG 2021, the LiveLaw reported.

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Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, appearing for the NTA, submitted before the apex court that a panel of three members will evaluate the question, as per the report.

A bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath were hearing a plea filed by a group of undergraduate students alleging a question asked in NEET UG 2021 was translated incorrectly.

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The plea had sought direction to NTA to delete the question from the physics section and declare fresh NEET UG results 2021.

Saying that the question put Hindi-speaking candidates at a disadvantageous position, the plea said, “The NTA without taking cognizance of the said error, released an answer key only on the basis of the English translation of the question.”

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Talking about the question, the petition explained that the word "amplitude of current '' had been omitted while translating it from English to Hindi. The petitioners argued that due to this, candidates who attempted the question on the basis of the Hindi translation arrived at a different answer as compared to the candidates who attempted the question in English.

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According to the petition, “Remarkably, if the impugned question is attempted in English, the amplitude of the current flowing had to be taken into consideration, thus, arriving at option one as the answer. On the contrary, if the same Question was attempted in Hindi, the omission of the term "amplitude" would result in applying a different formula and arriving at option three.”

Since NTA NEET has negative marking, the said question was a loss of 5 marks for the Hindi-speaking candidates and thus pushing their ranks further back.