New Delhi: The district administrations should withhold permission for any rally, procession or public gathering on days of crucial competitive examinations to ensure smooth traffic and law-and-order arrangements are in place well in advance and no candidate is affected by external disturbances, a Parliamentary panel has recommended.

The recommendation was made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Wasnik, while presenting a report on "Reforms and Strengthening of the National Testing Agency (NTA)" to the Rajya Sabha chairman on Friday.

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The report follows a controversy surrounding the NEET paper leak and alleged administrative lapses in the NTA, which led to nationwide student protests and ultimately the resignation of then-education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

"Public rallies, processions, or large gatherings on the day of examination can delay candidates and cause them to miss their reporting time. The committee recommends that the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 be amended to direct district administration to withhold permission for any rally, procession, or any other public gathering on examination days, and to ensure that smooth traffic and law-and-order arrangements are in place well in advance, so that no candidate is affected by an avoidable, external disturbance," the report said. So far, the NTA has issued advisories asking students to reach centres in advance and make arrangements accordingly if such events are planned on examination days.

Noting procedural concerns raised before it, the parliamentary panel noted that candidates arriving a few minutes late at the exam centres are mostly denied entry altogether, resulting in wasting their year-long hard work over a minor delay.

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"The committee observes that there are some genuine reasons due to which a candidate may arrive late at the examination centre. The committee is of the view that some mechanism be evolved such that students be allowed entry into the exam hall after signing an undertaking recording their late arrival and be allowed to attempt the exam only for the remaining time, with no extra time granted under any circumstances," it said.

The panel also noted that invigilators completing signing and checking formalities during the course of the examination disturbs the focus of students who are already racing against time.

"The committee is of the view that a separate 15-minute window, before or after the test, be kept exclusively for such formalities and not in between the exam duration," it said.