Uproar after 20 questions in MHT CET papers fail to match options provided
Students taking the MHT CET for engineering admissions report over 20 mismatched questions. CET Cell allows objections in May; parents express concerns over fees.
MUMBAI: Students appearing for the Maharashtra State Technical (MHT) CET Common Entrance Test for engineering admissions have alleged that more than 20 questions did not match any of the four options provided. Following widespread complaints, the state CET Cell announced that students could raise objections during the answer key challenge window, which will open in the first week of May.
The engineering entrance exams (PCM group) concluded on April 27, with participation from over 4,64,000 students across 181 centres nationwide. Earlier, the PCB group exams for agriculture and pharmacy courses were held between April 9 and 17, with 300,000 candidates registering.
A student who appeared for the examination on Sunday alleged that several questions did not match the given options. He said, “In mathematics, around 22 out of 50 questions did not match any of the four choices provided. These are not calculation errors; the options seem to be from entirely different topics.”
The student said that when they approached the supervisor at the examination centre, he was also helpless. “At first I thought my child was lying about the errors,” said the parent of another student. “However, when I checked with other students at the centre, most of them were complaining about the same problem. I then sent an email to the CET cell, but there has been no response so far.”
CET commissioner Dilip Sardesai said it was difficult to comment on the alleged errors immediately. “Copies of the question papers and provisional answer keys will be uploaded in the next 10 days on the official website,” he told HT. “Students will get a chance then to raise objections. A review committee will assess all the objections and release the final answer key on the website.”
Parents also raised concerns about the fee required to file objections on the CET cell website. “We have to pay ₹1,000 for each objection,” said a parent. “If we raise 22 objections, we will have to pay ₹22,000, which is completely unfair. If these questions have errors across the same batch, it will affect students’ scores. We are requesting the CET cell to take cognisance of the issue and resolve it on their own.” As per the rule changes introduced last year by the CET cell, fees paid for valid objections will now be refunded.
Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal demanded action against the agency responsible for conducting the MHT-CET examinations. In his letter to CM Devendra Fadnavis, Sapkal demanded that appropriate marks be given to the students who appeared for the exams, as their complaints at the exam centre were also ignored. “In some cases, all four given options against one question were wrong,” Sapkal noted in his letter and added, “Since students were required to attempt all questions, they were compelled to choose incorrect options. Hence, they should be awarded marks for these erroneous questions.”
