At a high-level meeting held at the residence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, there has been a proposal to rope in the Indian Air Force (IAF) to improve the security of the NEET-UG question papers.
According to official sources, the government is considering using the IAF for the transportation of NEET-UG papers to ensure the foolproof conduct of the retest on June 21.
The proposal aims to ensure the secure transport and handling of examination papers and prevent a repeat of the irregularities that forced the earlier test to be cancelled.
The meeting at the residence of the defence minister was attended by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia. National Testing Agency (NTA) Director General Abhishek Singh and senior officials from the Education Ministry, among others, also attended the meeting.
The discussions focused on tightening security measures and monitoring every stage of the exam process, including question paper setting, printing, transportation and distribution.
Sources have been quoted as saying by news agency PTI that the ministers and senior officials discussed whether IAF aircraft could be used for the transportation of the NEET-UG test papers.
The option will be placed before Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is believed to have been personally monitoring the preparations for the June 21 retest, for a final review. Only then will a call be taken on involving the force in the affair.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG, was held on May 3 in 551 cities across India and 14 overseas centres. Around 23 lakh candidates had registered for the exam conducted by the NTA.
The NTA said it received information about alleged malpractices on the evening of May 7, four days after the exam. The inputs were shared with central agencies the next morning for verification and further action.
Amid allegations of a paper leak, the NTA cancelled NEET-UG on May 12 and scheduled a re-examination for June 21.
The CBI registered a case based on a complaint from the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education. The agency formed special teams, carried out searches across the country and made several arrests. So far, 13 people have been arrested from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune, Latur and Ahilyanagar.