Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Apr 28: The Congress party has called for a thorough investigation into alleged errors in the Maharashtra-level Common Entrance Test (MHT-CET) paper, claiming that significant discrepancies have caused distress among students and parents.
Harshwardhan Sapkal, the state unit chief of the Congress, stated that the MHT-CET, conducted by the State Common Entrance Test Cell on April 27, was marred by errors, particularly in the mathematics section.
Students reportedly complained that at an exam center in Ahilyanagar district, 20 to 25 questions out of the 50-mark mathematics paper had incorrect answer options. Sapkal described this as “a very serious matter” and demanded that students be awarded marks for these erroneous questions.
In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Sapkal detailed that a substantial portion of the mathematics paper contained incorrect answer options, with some questions having all four provided options wrong. He highlighted that students, required to attempt all questions, were forced to select incorrect answers.
According to Sapkal, student complaints at the exam center were disregarded. Similar grievances were reported from other exam centers across the state, including server outages, which were allegedly met with unsatisfactory responses from examination authorities.
“This examination is crucial for engineering admissions. If as many as 20 to 25 questions had incorrect options, it could cause significant harm to students. Who is responsible for this? Why should students suffer due to the negligence of the institutions or companies responsible for preparing the papers and conducting the examination? This is not merely a matter of a few questions; it concerns the future of thousands of students. The state government must take this issue seriously and take strict action against those responsible,” Sapkal said.
He further demanded that “Institutions that cannot properly prepare papers or organise examinations should never be entrusted with such tasks again and should be blacklisted. The state government is fully responsible for ensuring that students are not harmed under any circumstances.”
Sapkal called upon the government to clarify its stance on the matter and take immediate steps to ensure that students are not adversely affected by the alleged errors.