NEET-UG: NTA identifies, reports Instagram, Telegram channels ‘claiming to have access' to Q paper
According to NTA sources, the agency was acting on inputs received through an online portal it launched last weekend for users to report 'suspicious claims' regarding the examination. It has identified 106 Telegram and 16 Instagram channels that are 'engaged in spreading misinformation and attempting to mislead students.'
The NTA has asked Telegram and Instagram to take these channels down immediately and share details of the administrators of these channels with law enforcement agencies for investigation.
So far, the NTA has received a total of 1500 reports of suspicious activity through its online portal. According to NTA sources, most of these reports are of Telegram channels 'pushing fake paper leak narratives.'
The online portal on the NTA website, set up on April 26, is meant for users to report suspicious activities under three categories – unauthorised websites/social media accounts claiming to have access to the NEET-UG question paper, individuals claiming to have access to exam-related content, and impersonators of NTA or government officials. Users can report suspicious claims till 5 pm on May 4, the day of the exam.
The portal has been set up as part of measures that the NTA and Ministry of Education are taking this year to ensure that the NEET-UG exam goes smoothly. The Centre had come under fire last year for a NEET-UG paper leak. The probe into the leak had found that question papers were stolen from a centre in Jharkhand, solved, and sent to candidates who paid for them.
Consequently, this year's exam is being held under strict vigilance. Security protocol this year includes police escort while transporting the question papers and OMR sheets, besides visits by District Magistrates and the police to examination centres to ensure preparedness. Coordination committees headed by the District Magistrate have been set up at the district level to manage the logistics and security of the exam.
These measures are in line with the recommendations of a seven-member committee headed by former ISRO Chairman Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, which was constituted in the wake of the NEET-UG paper leak last year, to suggest measures for the smooth and fair conduct of such public examinations.
Officials in the Ministry of Education have maintained that the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, which prescribes punishment for offences under it, will be adhered to and enforced strictly.
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