The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday said that it was ready to conduct a "fair, secure and candidate-friendly" re-test for the NEET-UG exam on Sunday.
Apart from its nationwide mock drill on the eve of the re-exam, the NTA has also deployed over two lakh district administrative personnel, police forces, and escort teams tasked with securely transporting the question papers and other confidential material.
Specifically, 674 city coordinators have also been appointed to oversee city-level operations, while 6,669 observers have been placed in charge of independent oversight at examination centres, as per a PTI report.
The re-exam will be conducted from 2 PM to 5:15 PM in pen-and-paper mode across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad for over 22.79 lakh candidates.
In a Saturday notice to students, the agency said that a total of 1,38,560 CCTV cameras had been installed across its 5,000-plus exam centres, with feeds monitored virtually at various levels.
51,311 jammers have also been deployed, in addition to candidate verification boosted with 38,795 staff for frisking and 48,448 personnel for biometric verification, the NTA added, as per the report.
Bank officials have been deployed at approximately 1,500 bank branches holding the confidential material, while the the Department of Posts will coordinate its teams for the collection of OMR sheets at around 700 collection centres across the country, the statement said.
The NTA noted that police, paramilitary forces, the Indian Air Force and the Department of Posts had been mobilised for the secure transport of this material.
In that regard, the purpose of the nationwide mock drill was to ensure that the systems and people in place—the jammers, CCTVs, frisking personnel, and biometric devices—were all operational.
The drill also saw coordinators verify the examination material held in the custodian banks and confirm its availability for the tomorrow's examination, the agency said.
Additional measures taken for candidates include a wall clock in every room of every centre, additional rough-work pages, and an extended exam timeframe to offset the time that goes in the entry formalities.
Students have been instructed to prepare well in advance, so as to appear for the exam in a calm, secure manner.
Key things to take note of before the exam include:
- Download the latest admit card and checking whether any changes have been made to the allotted exam centre.
- Pack only the permitted documents and approved transparent items while leaving prohibited belongings at home.
- Wear simple clothing that complies with the prescribed dress code and avoid metallic accessories.
- The gates at the exam centres open at 11:00, so plan to reach at around then, factoring in enough time for the frisking and biometric verification processes. Those wearing customary attire have to report by 11:30 AM for additional checks.
- The gates will close at 1:30 PM sharp, which means that candidates should account for possible travel delays.
- Candidates have also been advised to remain calm, and rely only on communication from official channels for any and all updates.
