Those who opted for Kannada reportedly got different set of questions compared to those who took the English test

Days after the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical and dental courses, students, who opted for the Kannada medium paper (which was bilingual), have complained that they got a separate set of questions compared to their counterparts who took the English test. This, they said, defeats the idea of providing them an equal playing field.

The candidates also alleged that the question paper of the Kannada medium was more difficult compared to the English paper. This year the test was conducted in English, Hindi and eight other regional languages. There have been similar complaints in other States, including West Bengal.

Dhanush M.V., who opted for the Kannada medium paper, said, “Isn’t the purpose of NEET to have a single entrance test so that all students across the country can be gauged through a uniform question paper? How can one paper be easy and another difficult?”

He said that the students learnt about the difference in difficulty level only on Wednesday when they looked for key answers released online by private coaching institutions and compared the English and Kannada papers.

Akash C., whose nephew wrote the test, said that there was a need for justice for candidates who took the Kannada medium test.

“The difference in question papers will change the marks scores and show up as huge difference in the rankings. Those who took the test in regional paper will be at a disadvantage,” he said.

Chairperson of Kannada Development Authority, S.G. Siddaramaiah, said that it was “extremely unfair” for candidates who appeared for the Kannada medium paper. He said that KDA would write to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on this issue.

In Karnataka, 77, 393 candidates appeared for the examination in 156 centres on Sunday.

Medical Education Sharan Prakash Patil said that they would examine the matter and take up the matter with CBSE if they find it necessary.

“Some parents have already approached me on this issue. But we will have to analyse if the difficulty level was indeed higher for the Kannada paper,” he said.