Neet face-off: Foolproof admission methodology needed

It has been over a month since the police filed the first case of alleged Neet impersonation in the state. With several people, including medical students and their parents, arrested, the case is getting murkier.  Medical aspirants had allegedly engaged proxies to write Neet for them in other centres to get admission into medical colleges.

The Madras high court, hearing a case related to Neet impersonation, observed that the fraud may have spread all over the country and more students may have got seats by duplication. It impleaded the Union ministry of human resources development, National Testing Agency, state health secretary, the DGP and the additional director general of police as respondents.

On Wednesday the court also impleaded   the CBI as respondent saying the role of coaching centres cannot be ruled out as students got admission by defrauding in Neet held outside the state. The court also said since the jurisdiction of CB-CID was  confined to the state government, it would be proper for CBI to investigate the matter as medical colleges are located in different parts of the country.   

It  also directed the National Testing Agency that conducts Neet to send all details, including thumb impressions, to CB-CID, probing the case. A compliance report will also have to be filed before the court during the next hearing on October 24.  The media has been restrained from publishing photographs or revealing identities of students who are said to have impersonated and got admission.  

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Medical Education asked all medical colleges to collect samples of thumb imprints of all first year medical students for forensic analysis. It has also decided to introduce 'biometric system' from next academic year to verify students' credentials.  DMK president Stalin has sought a CBI probe into the Neet impersonation case.  

 It may be recalled that the suicide of medical aspirant Anitha of  Ariyalur district after she failed to clear Neet had triggered widespread protests in 2017. The 17-year-old Dalit girl, who scored 1176/1200 marks in plus-2, had knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court seeking exemption for TN students from appearing before Neet.  

In 2019, Tamil Nadu came third after Maharashtra and UP in the number of candidates registering for this all-India medical entrance test. Several students excelled in Neet and the state recorded a good improvement in the overall results as compared to any other state in the country. Special Neet coaching classes conducted by the state government had helped students.

 While parents and students express  their anguish over rigorous checks at Neet exam centres, every year, it is shocking to find that candidates' faces have not been cross-checked.  If Neet is conducted to ensure only meritorious students get admission into medical colleges, the Central and state governments should definitely have a hi-tech foolproof admission methodology in place to confirm the identities of candidates. Merit cannot be bought or manipulated.