Parliamentary panel recommends age limit and cap on attempts for NEET-UG

A parliamentary committee has made a major recommendation to make the NEET examination for admission to medical colleges across the country transparent, secure and fair. The committee says a maximum age and a limit on the number of attempts should be fixed for candidates appearing in NEET-UG.

The committee is attached to the Ministry of Education and is chaired by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Wasnik. The recommendation is part of its report on the functioning of the NTA (National Testing Agency). According to the report, the NTA should coordinate with the Ministry of Health and fix the age and attempt limits for NEET-UG at the earliest.

At present, there is no upper age limit for appearing in NEET-UG.

The committee has also advised the NTA to conduct NEET-UG in computer-based mode, like JEE Main, UGC NET and CUET, instead of the pen-and-paper format. The report says that, to stop paper leaks completely, the NTA should begin implementing this major technological change on a war footing.

The report also makes several points on infrastructure. Adequate investment should be made to set up government-controlled facilities in tier-2 and tier-3 cities and rural areas. Until a robust system for computer-based testing is in place in remote and neglected areas, examinations there should be held in hybrid mode.

In the hybrid mode, the question paper can be sent in digital form to the concerned examination centre, where arrangements can be made to print it immediately.

To ensure security and fairness, the parliamentary committee has recommended setting up 1,000 secure government examination centres across the country. It has suggested that at least one government examination centre be built in every district.