New Delhi, April 28 -- With the medical entrance exam NEET-UG scheduled for May 4, the Ministry of Education has intensified coordination efforts with district authorities and police forces across the country to prevent any irregularities, official sources said on Monday.
Over 23 lakh candidates are expected to appear for the exam this year, which will take place at more than 5,000 centres across 550 cities. Authorities are aiming to avoid any repeat of last year's controversies, which saw allegations of paper leaks and compromised procedures in national entrance tests.
"To ensure smooth, fair and secure conduct of NEET-UG, a series of meetings have been held with DMs and SPs of all states and Union Territories. The district-level coordination committees are being fully activated to manage logistics, security and crisis response," an official involved in the process said.
According to sources, district police will oversee multi-layered frisking at exam centres, supplementing the security already provided by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Police escorts will accompany the transportation of confidential materials, including question papers and OMR sheets.
"Coaching centres and digital platforms will be closely monitored to curb any attempts at organised cheating," the official added. Duty Magistrates have been assigned for mandatory inspection of centres, with district magistrates and superintendents of police conducting personal visits to verify readiness.
Following last year's incidents, where the UGC-NET exam was scrapped due to security concerns, the government had constituted a panel to oversee the conduct of exams by the NTA. The Central Bureau of Investigation is currently probing the irregularities reported in NEET-UG and NET-PhD exams. Two other major tests - CSIR-UGC NET and NEET-PG - were cancelled last year as a preventive measure after security breaches were suspected.
Sources said 180 central institutions have been engaged to assess exam centres, while the Ministry of Home Affairs has held discussions with state chief secretaries and police chiefs to review security arrangements.
On Saturday, the NTA launched a portal allowing candidates and the public to report suspicious activities. "Candidates can report any suspicious activities falling in three categories - unauthorised websites or social media accounts claiming access to the NEET question paper; individuals claiming access to exam content and impersonators posing as NTA or government officials," NTA Director General Pradeep Singh Kharola said.
He added, "The initiative aligns with the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which seeks to safeguard the integrity of public examinations."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.