Officials review preparations at Godhra NEET centres

Vadodara: Officials of the Panchmahal district administration reviewed preparations for the NEET entrance test in Godhra, where all four testing centres of the district are located. Godhra has come into focus since an alleged plot for cheating in the entrance test came to the fore before the test began last year.Officials visited all the centres and checked the classrooms and cameras there. The four centres this time are three govt education institutions — the govt engineering college, govt polytechnic college and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya — along with St Arnold School, a grant-in-aid school.According to the new guidelines, no private education institutes can be made centres for the test. Last year, both centres in Panchmahal district, at Godhra and Wanakbori, were branches of the privately owned Jay Jalaram School, where attempts were made to carry out illegalities.The officials ensured that drinking water, ambulances and medical facilities were available at the centres. Security arrangements were also reviewed.The NEET scandal in Godhra was busted by the district collector, Ashish Kumar, on May 5 last year, just ahead of the exam, ensuring that no illegalities occurred. Teams were rushed to Jay Jalaram School in Godhra after a tip-off that a teacher, Tushar Bhatt, was to commit irregularities. Bhatt was frisked and lists of students were found on his mobile phone and along with a piece of paper. He confessed that he was to ‘help' these students. An offence regarding the attempted irregularities was registered on May 8.Bhatt, education consultant Parshuram Roy from Vadodara, principal of the school Parshottam Sharma and two middlemen, Arif Vahora and Vibhor Anand Singh, were arrested by Panchmahal police. The case was later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which arrested the owner of the school, Dixit Patel.Vadodara: Officials of the Panchmahal district administration reviewed preparations for the NEET entrance test in Godhra, where all four testing centres of the district are located. Godhra has come into focus since an alleged plot for cheating in the entrance test came to the fore before the test began last year.Officials visited all the centres and checked the classrooms and cameras there. The four centres this time are three govt education institutions — the govt engineering college, govt polytechnic college and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya — along with St Arnold School, a grant-in-aid school.According to the new guidelines, no private education institutes can be made centres for the test. Last year, both centres in Panchmahal district, at Godhra and Wanakbori, were branches of the privately owned Jay Jalaram School, where attempts were made to carry out illegalities.The officials ensured that drinking water, ambulances and medical facilities were available at the centres. Security arrangements were also reviewed.The NEET scandal in Godhra was busted by the district collector, Ashish Kumar, on May 5 last year, just ahead of the exam, ensuring that no illegalities occurred. Teams were rushed to Jay Jalaram School in Godhra after a tip-off that a teacher, Tushar Bhatt, was to commit irregularities. Bhatt was frisked and lists of students were found on his mobile phone and along with a piece of paper. He confessed that he was to ‘help' these students. An offence regarding the attempted irregularities was registered on May 8.Bhatt, education consultant Parshuram Roy from Vadodara, principal of the school Parshottam Sharma and two middlemen, Arif Vahora and Vibhor Anand Singh, were arrested by Panchmahal police. The case was later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which arrested the owner of the school, Dixit Patel.