Rahul Gandhi writes to CBSE chairman, demands inquiry in NEET data leak issue

In a student-friendly move, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday dashed a letter to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) chairman Anita Karwal, seeking a probe into the alleged NEET data leak scandal.

Taking to Twitter, the Congress on Tuesday confirmed the news and said, "Congress President Rahul Gandhi writes to the Chairperson CBSE to order an enquiry into the data breach and to put in place effective safeguards to prevent safeguards to prevent future breaches".

"It's alleged that data of candidates who appeared for NEET this year, is available on certain websites for a price & has leaked data of over 2,00,000 students. I strongly urge you to order an inquiry," Rahul wrote in his one-page letter to the CBSE.

Congress President @RahulGandhi writes to the Chairperson CBSE to order an enquiry into the data breach and to put in place effective safeguards to prevent safeguards to prevent future breaches. pic.twitter.com/R7WWbsHb7D

— Congress (@INCIndia) July 24, 2018

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Meanwhile, talking about the NEET 2018 data leak issue, MoS HRD Satyapal Singh said, "The DG of NIC has told me there has been no data leak from their server. But some private agency has collected data from students".

"So, perhaps it has been compromised. However, the Govt of India ensures no data leak from any Govt agency," Singh added.

In a massive breach of data, the personal details such as phone numbers, email IDs and addresses of thousands of NEET applicants were made available online for a payment of up to Rs 2 lakh.

The CBSE conducted the NEET on May 6 in 136 cities in 11 languages, the results of which was announced on June 4. Over 13 lakh candidates had appeared for the same.

The NEET data scandal came to light months after the Class XII Economics paper of the CBSE had allegedly been leaked one day before the examination.

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According to reports, several handwritten notes, containing the Class XII Economics questions were widely circulated on WhatsApp a day before the examination on March 26.

The board, however, had conducted the Class XII Economics re-examination on April 25 and published the both Class X and Xlass XII examination results on time.