The Union government has sought help from states to ensure free and fair conduct of central entrance examinations, according to a report in the Indian Express. The Centre has asked states to deploy one civilian and one police observer at each examination centre during the examinations in future.
The Centre’s request comes in the wake of controversies over alleged irregularities during the NEET-UG 2024 test and the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam over claims of paper leaks. As a precautionary measure, the Centre has also rescheduled two other exams — NEET-PG and CSIR-UGC NET.
The request was made during a meeting of Home Minister Ajay Bhalla with chief secretaries and police chiefs of all states last week, the Indian Express report said. Bhalla sought help from states in monitoring the conduct of upcoming examinations, including the All India Ayush Postgraduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET) and the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE) on July 6, the report said.
The AIAPGET is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for the Ayush Ministry and is a test for admission to MD/MS programs in Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. The FMGE is conducted by the National Board of Examination (NBE) under the Health Ministry and is taken by overseas medical graduates who wish to practice medicine in India.
On July 4, the Kerala Cyber Police registered a case after an announcement was made on social media that the FMGE question paper and answer key were available for sale.
Besides the request to deploy two additional observers, the states have also been asked to appoint a state-level nodal officer to coordinate with the test-administering agency. As per the current practice, the test-administering agency appoints one observer at each examination centre.
The row over NEET-UG and other exams has led to a political confrontation with opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, seeking a debate on the issue in the recent session of Parliament. The opposition has blamed the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ruining the careers of hundreds of thousands of youngsters.
The Centre said there was no large-scale leak of the NEET-UG paper and therefore did not cancel it.