SHILLONG, MAY 19: Health Minister Wailadmiki Shylla on Tuesday called on the Centre to frame strict laws to prevent future lapses in national-level examinations including NEET-UG, saying repeated incidents have demoralised students and parents across the country.

“I think it is not only in Meghalaya, but it is also affecting other states. It is very unfortunate as we never expected this,” Shylla said, referring to irregularities in examinations conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Condemning the incidents, the minister urged the Union government to act. “Since this is being done by the National Testing Agency, I really condemn this. At the same time, I would urge the Central government to act,” he said.

Shylla noted that the Union Education Minister had recently promised action. “A few days ago the Union Education Minister came up with a statement that from now on, strict action will be taken and they will see that these kinds of things do not happen in the future,” he said.

He stressed that stronger measures were needed to rebuild public confidence. “The Central government has to come up with something in order to gain the trust of the people of the state because this has been happening even in the past as well,” he said. “When these kinds of things happen, it really demoralises the students who appeared for the exam and also the parents.”

“I would like to see that the Central government comes up with strict laws in order to gain the trust of the students and the parents,” Shylla added.

Addressing affected candidates, the minister said action had been taken and fresh dates announced. “Unfortunately, this is not the first time that it is happening. I would urge the students that they should not feel discouraged,” he said. “No doubt swift action has been taken and I think the fresh dates have already been announced.”

He encouraged students to use the opportunity. “I urge them not to be demoralised. This is the second chance you get, work hard and we are together on this,” Shylla said. “It is a clear message that the Central government should come up with strict laws in order to gain the trust of the students. These kinds of things will always happen in our lives but you should not feel discouraged. You should always be motivated and work hard.”

Shylla confirmed that several candidates from Meghalaya were impacted. “There are quite a number of them from the state,” he said.

He added that the re-examination has been rescheduled. “The new date fixed, if I am not mistaken, is on June 21,” the minister said.