A protest against the NEET paper leak in New Delhi on Wednesday.
NEW DELHI: Stricter digital tracking systems, tighter confidentiality protocols for question paper handling, randomisation mechanisms, enhanced police supervision during transportation and storage of examination material, and real-time coordination with district administrations formed the centrepiece of a high-level review meeting chaired by Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday ahead of the June 21 NEET-UG re-examination. The ministry has given NTA a 20-day window to spruce up the system and deliver a secure test. The meeting, attended by senior officials from the ministry of education, NTA, CBSE, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, carried out a detailed stage-by-stage review of the examination chain. “Every vulnerability identified in the earlier process must be comprehensively plugged. The re-examination has to be conducted in a secure, seamless and foolproof manner under stringent security protocols,” Pradhan told TOI after the meeting. A significant part of the discussions focused on the process of question paper setters and moderators. Officials deliberated on stricter background verification, limited-access systems, enhanced confidentiality agreements and tighter digital isolation protocols to reduce the possibility of leaks. The meeting also discussed minimising the number of individuals with access to the final paper compilation. Deliberations took place on reducing human intervention. Among the measures discussed were real-time digital tracking of question paper consignments, geo-tagged monitoring of vehicle movement, deployment of additional flying squads, tighter access controls at strong rooms, mandatory multi-level verification before opening sealed packets and expanded CCTV surveillance coverage at sensitive points. Officials also deliberated on increasing the role of district police in escorting confidential material and strengthening chain-of-custody documentation for both question papers and OMR sheets. Directions were also given to authorities to hold coordination meetings with district magistrates and superintendents of police to ensure standardised implementation and rapid response mechanisms.
