NEET-UG plan: Police escort for papers, coaching centres monitored

The Ministry of Education is holding a series of meetings with district magistrates and superintendents of police from all states and union territories to ensure there are no lapses in the upcoming medical entrance exam NEET-UG, sources said on Monday.

The crucial exam is scheduled on May 4. It will be conducted in more than 550 cities and at over 5,000 centres across the country.

The Ministry has been working on a fool-proof plan following alleged irregularities in last year's exam, including paper leaks, which put the exam integrity under scanner. 

"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 UTs. The district-level coordination committees are being fully activated to manage logistics, security and crisis response," a source told PTI.

"There will be multi-layered frisking by district police in addition to NTA-designated security at the centres. The transport of confidential materials like question papers and OMR sheets will be under full police escort. Coaching centres and digital platforms will be monitored to prevent organized cheating networks," the source added.

Duty Magistrates are being deployed for mandatory inspection of all examination centres while there will be personal visits by DMs and SPs to examination centres to assess preparedness. 

On the line of fire over alleged irregularities in NEET-UG and PhD entrance NET, the Centre had last year set up the panel to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations by the NTA.

While NEET-UG was under the scanner over several irregularities, including alleged leaks, the UGC-NET (University Grants Commission - National Eligibility Test) was cancelled as the ministry received input that its integrity had been compromised.

Both matters are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). 

Two other exams -- CSIR-UGC NET and NEET-PG -- were cancelled at the last moment as a pre-emptive step.