A year after the NEET UG fiasco, the Centre has decided to implement all the corrective measures suggested by its seven-member expert panel on exam reforms. The decision was communicated by the Centre to the Supreme Court.
News agency PTI quoted Solicitor General Tushar Mehta as saying, "We are going to implement all the recommendations and it (matter) can be listed after six months." A seven-member expert panel, headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Radhakrishnan, was formed last year to review the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA). The panel recommend exam reforms to make the NEET-UG transparent and free from malpractices.
The apex court had last year refused to cancel the controversy-ridden NEET-UG noting that there was no sufficient material to indicate a systemic leak or malpractice compromising the integrity of the examination. The NEET-UG is conducted by the NTA for admission in undergraduate medical programs.
While expanding the scope of the expert panel, the top court had flagged multiple lapses on the part of NTA like the security breach at an examination centre in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh where the rear door of the strongroom was opened and unauthorised people were permitted to access question papers, transportation of question papers by e-rickshaws and distribution of wrong set of question papers among the candidates.
Over 23 lakh students took up the NEET-UG in 2024 for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses.
(With inputs from PTI)