Over a lakh candidates appear for NEET-UG exam in Kerala

The police check details of candidates who arrive for NEET-UG exam at Manacaud GHSS, one of the exam centres, in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Over a lakh students are estimated to have appeared for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2025 in Kerala on Sunday.

The examination was conducted across 334 centres in 16 city centres. The National Testing Agency (NTA), in collaboration with various State departments, had made extensive arrangements for the conduct of the examination for admissions to undergraduate medical and allied courses.

According to official sources, nearly 1.28 lakh students had registered for NEET in Kerala. The final attendance numbers are yet to be disclosed.

The exam was scheduled from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., with students permitted to enter the centres until 1.30 p.m. Candidates were required to adhere to a strict dress code and carry essential documents, including the admit card, two passport-size photographs and one postcard-size colour photograph.

Following the question paper leak and other irregularities that marred last year’s NEET-UG examination, authorities implemented tighter security protocols this year. The Ministry of Education mandated the formation of State- and district-level committees to oversee the examination process.

Sudheer K., Director of Collegiate Education, was appointed the chairperson of the State-level coordination committee, which included senior officials, including Director General of Police Manoj Abraham and Commissioner for Entrance Examinations Arun S. Nair.

A shift in policy also saw priority given to government-run colleges and schools for setting up examination centres, replacing the past practice of primarily using CBSE schools.

Held for ‘impersonation’

Despite the otherwise smooth conduct of the examination, a Parassala native was detained by the police in Pathanamthitta on charges of impersonation.

The incident took place at the Thaikkavu VHSS exam centre in Pathanamthitta, where the student attempted to sit for the exam using a hall ticket reportedly generated in the name of another candidate from Thiruvananthapuram. Exam centre authorities, noticing discrepancies during initial verification, grew suspicious and alerted the police, who took the student into custody for questioning.

According to the police, while the main section of the hall ticket bore the name of the student currently in custody, the declaration section mentioned the name of another candidate from Thiruvananthapuram.

“Initially, the discrepancy was attributed to a potential printing error and the student was allowed to begin the examination. The official who was in charge of the exam duties, meanwhile, reported this irregularity to the NEET office in Thiruvananthapuram. However, the matter escalated after it was found that another candidate with the same name was writing the exam at another centre in Thiruvananthapuram,” said an official

Preliminary inquiries suggested that the fake hall ticket was created using another student’s details. During interrogation, the accused claimed the document had been provided by an Akshaya Centre employee in Neyyattinkara. The police have informed that a detailed investigation is required to fully uncover the extent of the malpractice.

The student, a native of Parassala in Thiruvananthapuram, had arrived at the exam centre accompanied by his mother. Invigilators allowed him to begin the exam while they verified the hall ticket details. Within an hour, it was discovered that another student bearing the same roll number was writing the exam at a different centre in Thiruvananthapuram.

Akshaya Centre staffer

The impersonating candidate was immediately stopped from writing the exam and the authorities filed a formal complaint. Both the student and his mother were taken into custody. During questioning, they revealed that the hall ticket had been sent via WhatsApp by the Akshaya Centre employee.

According to investigators, the student’s mother had entrusted the employee with the task of submitting the NEET application on her son’s behalf. However, the application was allegedly never filed. As the exam date neared, the mother requested the hall ticket, prompting the woman employee to manipulate an existing hall ticket of another candidate stored on their computer and forward the doctored version via WhatsApp.

“Believing it to be his genuine hall ticket, the student arrived at the Pathanamthitta centre to write the exam,” an official explained.

The police added that only a thorough interrogation of the Akshaya Centre employee will help resolve the remaining ambiguities in the case.