The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday said over 2 lakh personnel have been mobilised for the NEET re-examination for 22.79 lakh candidates. As a usual practice before the examination, officials from the education ministry said a mock drill will be conducted on June 20 (Sunday), a day before the examination.
The re-examination will be held across 551 cities in India and 14 cities with 674 city coordinators overseeing city-level operations and 6,669 observers deployed for independent oversight at examination centres.
District administrations, police forces and escort teams have been deployed particularly for the secure transportation of confidential materials.
NTA said it has put in place a multi-layered security framework to ensure a fair and transparent examination. This includes end-to-end secure handling of confidential materials to designated locations under sealed protocols and GPS-enabled vehicles with police escort for movement of examination materials. The examination centres will be equipped with CCTV with feeds linked to centralised control rooms.
Mandatory frisking through high-sensitivity metal detectors before entry, with strengthened manpower and equipment at every centre and real-time monitoring through centralised control systems are some of the measures being taken.
“Active monitoring of social media platforms is being undertaken to curb misinformation and prevent malpractice. NTA has also filed complaints with cyber-crime authorities, including MHA and CBI. Strict action is being taken against all those involved,” NTA said in a statement.
As per NTA’s advisory, candidates whose biometric verification cannot be completed at the examination centre due to technical malfunction of devices, poor fingerprint quality, UIDAI connectivity issues, or any physical inability will not be denied entry to the examination hall.
Such candidates will be required to sign a written undertaking — the format of which will be made available at the examination centre with the Centre Superintendent or observer — and will then be permitted to write the exam.
Manual identity verification will be carried out using valid documents.
Candidates are allowed to carry a transparent water bottle. Diabetic candidates are permitted to carry sugar tablets and fruits (banana, apple, orange).
Mobile phones, smart watches, bluetooth devices, calculators, wallets, jewellery, metallic accessories and food packets are not allowed inside the examination hall.
“Candidates must report to their examination centre between 11 am and 1.30 pm. Entry gates will close sharp at 1.30 pm, and no candidate will be permitted entry thereafter under any circumstance,” NTA said.
Candidates wearing customary or religious attire and those wishing to wear full-sleeves or woollens are advised to report early to allow time for thorough frisking. Candidates have been asked to carry a printed copy of the admit card, one original valid photo ID and two passport-size photographs for affixing on the attendance sheet.
