Mumbai, Aug 4 (PTI) NCP (SP) general secretary Rohit Pawar on Tuesday demanded a forensic audit of the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (MH-CET) results, alleging irregularities in the awarding of exam-related contracts and seeking disclosure of the formula used to calculate percentile scores.
Only 43 of the top 100 candidates in MH-CET 2026 had secured more than 85 per cent in Physics Chemistry Maths (PCM) in Class 12, Pawar claimed at a press conference here.
He questioned the State CET Cell’s method of calculating percentile scores, alleging that the formula remains undisclosed even under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Corruption in the examination system was adversely affecting lakhs of students and their families, who invest heavily in coaching and education in the hope of securing admission to professional courses, he said.
Pawar claimed that a company was awarded a government contract for conducting exams in 2011 despite another firm emerging as the lowest bidder in three rounds of the tender process. The tender conditions were modified thrice to make the company eligible, the MLA charged.
He alleged that the company later subcontracted the examination work to another firm, which he claimed had been blacklisted by the Jammu and Kashmir government and the Bureau of Indian Standards over examination-related irregularities.
The company secured contracts across seven Maharashtra government departments through a cartel of related companies, he further alleged and demanded an investigation into the tendering process.
The NCP (SP) leader called for a forensic audit of the MH-CET 2026 results and an academic correlation analysis of CET results from 2023 onwards. He also sought a probe into the alleged role of coaching institutes, agents and intermediaries in manipulating admissions.
An analysis of CET results from 2020 to 2026 showed a decline in the number of top-ranked students who had scored above 85 per cent in PCM in the Class 12 board examination, he claimed. Only 43 of the top 100 candidates in MH-CET 2026 had secured more than 85 per cent in PCM in Class 12, according to Pawar.
He questioned the methodology used by the State CET Cell to calculate percentile scores and alleged that the formula had not been disclosed even under the RTI Act.
“We demand that the CET Cell make the percentile calculation formula public,” Pawar said.
He also demanded that the CET be conducted offline using the OMR (Optical Mark Recognition)-based system, as was done earlier, alleging that several examination and recruitment processes had been marred by irregularities.
Pawar further alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations, including those conducted by the excise department and Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC), and claimed that exam-related scams had taken place during the BJP’s tenure. PTI MR GK
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