Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has asked social media platforms to proactively identify, block, and take down channels spreading misinformation ahead of the NEET-UG retest next month.
At a meeting with representatives of social media platforms, including Telegram, Meta and Google, Pradhan asked them to coordinate with the Education Ministry, the National Testing Agency (NTA), and law enforcement agencies to prevent the spread of misinformation on the exam through online groups and Telegram channels that become active ahead of the exam, and circulate claims of paper leaks.
The Minister has also sought the support of central security and intelligence agencies to ensure that the retest is conducted securely.
NTA officials said that the agency’s processes are being strengthened ahead of the retest to ensure that those associated with it are vetted, and the issues that have been raised during the inquiry are fixed.
This also includes “institutional reform” to ensure integrity of the exam through reforms in preparation of question papers and their translation, and the printing and transport of question papers to centres.
