22 lakh students, 5440 centres, 1 lakh cameras; NEET re-examination ongoing amid unprecedented security arrangements

NEW DELHI: Almost 22 lakh students are writing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) re- examination today. The re-exam started amid tight security following huge protests and controversies across the country over the question paper leak in the exam held in May. Today's re-exam is a big test for the central government and the National Testing Agency to regain credibility. The exam will be held from 2 pm to 5.15 pm. Time has been allowed till 6.20 pm for differently-abled candidates.

Unprecedented security measures have been introduced to ensure the security of the exam this time. Question papers were transported to the examination centres in Indian Air Force aircraft. There are a total of 5,440 examination centres in 551 cities in the country and 14 centres abroad. CCTV cameras have been installed in more than 95,000 rooms. Real-time surveillance is being carried out at the national and state levels through a total of 1,38,560 CCTV cameras. 51,311 jammers have also been installed to prevent high-tech cheating.

An average of 40 to 50 security personnel was deployed at each examination centre. Apart from the police, paramilitary forces have also been deployed for this purpose. There are about 48,000 personnel for biometric verification. Yesterday, the NTA conducted a mock drill across the country to ensure that the examination process runs smoothly. A high-level review meeting was held under the chairmanship of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to assess the situation.

There was also a lot of discussion about the allocation of an examination centre in Abu Dhabi for a student from Nagpur, Abdullah Muhammad Talib. The NTA later allocated him an examination centre in Nagpur itself, making it a priority to ensure that no student missed the exam due to administrative errors.