The government of Assam has chosen to call upon the Centre to beef up security arrangements at NEET centers, including biometric scanning at entrance points.
GUWAHATI: The government of Assam has chosen to call upon the Centre to beef up security arrangements at NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) centers, including biometric scanning at entrance points.
This decision was made after reports emerged about students securing very high marks without much practical and academic exposure.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, addressing after a Cabinet meeting, disclosed that teachers from medical colleges had raised questions regarding the level of competence of some NEET qualifiers.
CM Sarma stated that a number of professors have complained that numerous students who perform well in NEET are not well-equipped with academic and practical skills. To address these issues, the state government had entrusted the Special Branch with probing the matter almost one and a half years ago.
The government’s report indicates that the majority of NEET examination centers are in private institutes and not in government schools or colleges. This has raised a lot of scrutiny regarding the fairness and transparency of the examination process.
To solve these problems, the Assam Cabinet has put forward three significant reforms to the NEET examination process:
1. NEET in Government Schools Alone – The state government will urge the Centre to limit NEET examination centres to government schools and colleges in order to make it fair and accountable.
2. Direct Monitoring by District Officials – The Assam government will request the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Ministry of Education to place NEET centres under the direct monitoring of District Commissioners and Superintendents of Police.
3. Mandatory Biometric Verification – For the purpose of avoiding impersonation and fraud, the government will ask the NTA to conduct biometric verification at the gates prior to candidates entering the examination halls.
The Chief Minister has stated that the Assam Chief Secretary has been empowered to officially convey these decisions to the NTA Director General and the Union Education Secretary. The Chief Minister himself will also meet with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in person to deliberate on these reforms.
The Assam Cabinet has also decided to cancel the quota for Char areas (riverine vegetative islands) in MBBS/BDS admissions under the Assam MBBS/BDS Rules 2017. This will be effective from the 2025-26 academic year.
Also, the state government will bring an amendment to the Act that regulates Srimanta Sankaradeva University of Health Sciences (SSUHS). The amendment will require new nursing, dental, pharmaceutical, or healthcare institutions to seek national security clearance from the Home Department before their establishment. Also, these institutions will have to function on secular lines and ensure that there is no direct or indirect participation in religious conversions.
The Assam government has also realized the necessity of regulating private coaching centers, which have been increasing at a fast pace in the state. For this purpose, the government will bring a new bill in the current budget session to ensure transparency, ethical behavior, and quality education in private coaching institutions.
In a big decision to accelerate industrial growth, the Assam government has allotted land to the Industry Department to establish two mega industrial parks at Kamrup and Morigaon districts. Also, an industrial park, with a smart township, is to be constructed at Hajo in Kamrup district to provide infrastructure facilities and invite investments in Assam.
In order to provide a more efficient process of acquiring a driving license, the government has sanctioned the opening of Accredited Driver Training Centres in all 126 constituencies of Assam. All the centers will have automated driving test tracks, thereby providing a uniform and systematic method of issuing licenses.
