TN: Hair clips, dress buttons not allowed in NEET (UG) this year due to stringent frisking
NEET exam centers followed strict frisking protocols this year; female applicants could not wear clips in their hair and too many buttons on a dress was frowned upon
This year's NEET(UG) 2025 examination held across 5,453 centres in the country on Sunday (May 4), witnessed stringent frisking of students sitting for this critical, all-important medical entrance exam. This exam is also held in 13 cities abroad.
As many as 22.7 lakh candidates appeared for the examination conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), across Tamil Nadu. Even as the TN government is gearing up to continue to intensify its demand for NEET exemption and approach the Supreme Court once more, a total of 1.5 lakh students across the state appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam on Sunday.
No hair clips
NEET aspirants told The Federal that strict frisking protocols were observed at the NEET exam centers after several discrepancies were raised in the conduct of the examination at many centers across the state in 2024.
"Females were not allowed to even keep their hair clipped or tied. There were multiple frisking points at the centres and the attire of candidates were checked thoroughly to avoid any chance of unfair means being used in the examination," said Nivedha, a NEET aspirant at a center in Anna Nagar.
Also read: NEET-UG held at over 5,400 centres; sporadic incidents of protest, arrest
The enforcement of the dress code was so severe that a girl from Tirupur was denied entry inside the exam hall for having too many buttons on her dress!
"The frisking was not only at the entry but the invigilators checked us inside the examination hall as well. Since I was reappearing for the exam, I could see that the security arrangements had increased this year. The examination halls were equipped with CCTV cameras," said Amirtha Varshini, another medical aspirant who appeared for the exam on Sunday.
Most of the students felt the difficulty levels of the examination was moderate, with physics being the most challenging section as it was based on numericals.
"Biology was easier as usual. Chemistry was moderate but physics was time-consuming because we had to solve the problems and answer the questions. All the questions were NCERT based, so I did not find it very difficult," said Akshaya Mariya, another NEET aspirant from Chennai.
The examination was conducted peacefully in most centers across Tamil Nadu. In a few instances, the parents of the aspirants had heated arguments with the officials after a few students failed to report to the examination hall on time, and were not allowed inside the hall.
NTA cracks down
The NTA had also taken up the cases reported through its "Suspicious Claims Portal on NEET (UG) 2025 Examination" with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, which falls under the ministry of home affairs. The agency had also asked social media channels to take down 165 Telegram channels and more than 32 Instagram accounts disseminating false information about paper leaks.
In an alleged case of offering inflated marks in exchange for money in Rajkot, Gujarat, the NTA has said that appropriate action is being taken against the individuals by Gujarat government. Another instance of fraud to help aspiring students to clear NEET was also raised in Odisha.
Additionally, NTA also warned students and parents to stay vigilant about middlemen promising medical seats since this scam falls under the ambit of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act.
In fact, four members of an inter-state gang have been arrested in Bhubaneshwar on May 4 for promising students admission to a medical college. The gang had plans to engage dummy candidates to write the exam for the NEET candidate.
