The Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the system used to conduct the NEET-UG examination is “fool proof” and difficult to breach, while acknowledging that certain stages involve human intervention.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta explained the safeguards around the preparation, selection, printing and distribution of question papers as the court examined the examination process.
How NEET question papers are prepared
Mehta explained the process using a Physics paper containing 100 questions as an example.
According to the government's submission, moderators first prepare a question bank of 500 questions. A separate group of moderators then selects 100 questions each to create four different sets of question papers.
The Director General of the National Testing Agency (NTA) subsequently selects two of those four papers.
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Sealed boxes, digital keys and CCTV
Once selected, the papers are placed in sealed boxes and sent to two separate printing presses. The facilities are monitored through CCTV and protected by CISF security.
The official responsible for the box has a digital key, which is required to open it. The box can only be opened after the printing press owner contacts the NTA Director General and receives the necessary code.
After the box is opened, no outsider is allowed inside the printing facility, the government told the court. The printing process is also video-recorded.
Mehta further said that the printing press operator does not know which examination centre will ultimately receive the question paper.
“The QP along with OMR is sealed in a sealed envelope, to open the envelope I have to break the seal,” Mehta was quoted as saying by Bar and Bench.
NEET paper leak triggered major controversy
The government's submissions come months after the NEET-UG examination conducted on May 3 was cancelled by the NTA following a paper leak.
A re-examination was subsequently ordered for June 21. The controversy had triggered widespread concern among students and NEET aspirants over the integrity and security of the examination process.
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Against this backdrop, the Centre's explanation before the Supreme Court focused on the multiple checks built into the current system, from question selection to printing and handling of the papers.