Mock drills were conducted in all NEET-UG exam centres across the country Saturday as 22.7 lakh candidates are set to appear for the exam Sunday, a year after the paper leak controversy rocked the medical entrance examination sending the Centre and the NTA into a tizzy. The exam will be conducted in 5,453 centres in around 500 cities, compared to 4,750 centres last year. Around 22.7 lakh candidates have registered for the exam, down from 24 lakh last year.
“There will be three layers of monitoring on the exam day — at the district, state, and Centre levels,” a Ministry of Education source said.
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Authorities in the states have been directed to ensure availability of water, uninterrupted power supply, and first aid/ambulance services.
In the wake of the NEET UG paper leak last year, the Centre had constituted a committee headed by former ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan to recommend measures to conduct public exams in a “transparent, smooth, and fair way.” The committee had recommended conducting public exams along the lines of elections, through coordination panels at the state and district levels.
District-level coordination committees headed by the DM and including a senior police officer have been constituted to ensure security protocol is adhered to, and arrangements are in place. This will be the first NEET-UG exam after the Centre notified rules in June last year under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.
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The rules lay down procedures for reporting unfair means, while the Act specifies penalties, including imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of not less than `1 crore in the case of organised crime. (unfair means to promote a shared interest for wrongful gain in a public exam).
Sources said that candidates found indulging in unfair means will face penalties under the Act, and will also be debarred from appearing in NTA’s exams for up to three years.
CUET-UG 2025 delayed: NTA pushes entrance test to May 13, citing lack of preparedness (File photo) 
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