NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the system in place for conducting the NEET examination is “foolproof” and difficult to breach, citing multiple safeguards for the preparation, transportation and handling of question papers.The Centre said vehicles carrying NEET question papers are equipped with GPS systems and their movements, including even minor deviations, are recorded.“Vehicle carrying NEET question papers has GPS, even small movement is recorded,” the Centre told the Supreme Court.The government also told the court that several moderators are involved in preparing the question bank and are not aware which questions will eventually be included in the final question paper.“Several moderators asked to prepare question bank, they are not aware which will be part of question paper,” the Centre told the court.

SC seeks details on NEET reforms

During the hearing, the Supreme Court directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken to implement the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan panel and Nandan Nilekani committee.The court stressed the need to institutionalise the NEET examination system and strengthen its infrastructure, cybersecurity, manpower and technological capabilities.

The Supreme Court also called for secure confidential infrastructure, dedicated testing centres, a permanent committee for paper sealing, institutional expertise, a sovereign database and a director-rank officer overseeing examination security.“A vibrant system and institutionalisation is what needs to be done,” the Supreme Court said.The court directed the Union Secretary to file an affidavit detailing the steps being taken to implement the Radhakrishnan Committee's recommendations.The Supreme Court said its concern was the institutionalisation of the NTA, including the infrastructure, manpower and technological requirements needed to conduct the examination securely.

Centre details safeguards before SC

The Centre's submissions came as the court examined measures aimed at preventing breaches in the NEET examination process.

According to the government, involving multiple moderators in preparing the question bank ensures that those involved in the process do not know which questions will eventually be selected for the final paper.The Centre also pointed to GPS tracking of vehicles transporting question papers, with movements being recorded throughout the journey.The government maintained that these safeguards, covering question-paper preparation and transportation, make the existing NEET examination system difficult to compromise.