There was no guard in the strong room, CCTV cameras were also not working… Many flaws were found at the NEET centre before the test

New Delhi: National Eligibility Criteria The political uproar over the irregularities in the undergraduate examination 2024 is not stopping. Political parties including Congress are demanding the cancellation of NEET exam. Not only this, they have alleged fraud during the exam. For this, the Narendra Modi government at the Center has been surrounded. At the same time, amid allegations of irregularities in the NEET exam, a big disclosure has come to the fore in a third party investigation. According to the Indian Express report, an investigation by an independent agency found that there was a gross violation of security standards at many centers of the NEET exam held on May 5 this year.

The cameras were not working and the security guard was also missing

According to the report, the mandatory two CCTV cameras were not working at many centers and at some places even the ‘strong rooms’ containing the question papers were found open. There were no security guards there either. This review regarding safety was done by an independent agency on the instructions of NTA i.e. National Testing Agency. NTA is the agency that conducts the NEET exam. The review team visited 399 examination centers out of a total of 4,000. These centers were selected by NTA and the review team with mutual consent. The review team submitted its report to NTA on June 16. The surprising thing is that this report was submitted to NTA 12 days after the exam results were declared. Know further what revelations were made in the report.

46% centres violated CCTV norms

The review team found that at 186 out of 399 centres, or 46 per cent, the mandatory two CCTV cameras in each examination hall were not working. According to NTA rules, the live feed of CCTV cameras installed at examination centres should be sent to a central control room at the NTA headquarters in Delhi. It should be monitored there by a team of experts.

Strong rooms at 16% centres are without security

The report also revealed that 68 out of 399 centres, or about 16 per cent, had no security guards posted in the strong rooms. According to the rules, the strong room should be guarded by a guard until the question papers are distributed.

There is also a problem with biometric staff

The report also found that the biometric staff at 83 centres was different from the staff that was designated for those centres. The purpose of this review was to identify any non-adherence to the prescribed guidelines or any irregularities at the centres on the day of the exam.

What did the review team check?

Security at exam centres
Whether the jammers are working or not, whether they are covering all the necessary rooms or not. Things like physical security of the examination centre, access to the examination centre, movement of people at the centre, search as per need etc. were checked.

seating arrangements
The review team also checked whether the students were seated on their assigned seats or not.

Attendance of employees
It was also observed whether adequate number of inspectors, CCTV staff and other necessary staff were present at the centre or not.

Why questions arose on NEET exam

The NTA has been facing criticism ever since the NEET-UG 2024 results were declared on June 4, the day of the Lok Sabha election results. First, an unusually large number of 67 candidates got 720/720 full marks. Some candidates got 718 or 719 marks. Some people claimed that these marks were not possible in the scheme of the exam. At the same time, the NTA is also facing allegations of NEET paper leak in Bihar, where the state police has arrested 13 people. Four of the 13 arrested are candidates who took the NEET exam. Apart from this, two examination centers in Godhra, Gujarat are also under the scanner of the state police. Here the candidates were allegedly helped to fill the correct answers in their OMR sheets.