NEET 2020: Registration will require live photos, a move to discourage impersonators

As per recent reports, NTA will ask medical aspirants to upload ‘live photos’ in NEET 2020 registration, which is about to start in five days. Live photos mean a photo taken during submission of application form. 

This will mean that when candidate is filling out the application form, he or she will have to pose in front of a webcam perhaps, to take his or her pic and then the same will get uploaded. The exact process of how this will work, or whether it will be finalized or not is still not clear.

A similar process is used in different exams like Aglasem ATSE at present. This process of capturing live photos has multiple benefits. To start with, it captures the exact look of the candidate, which is anticipated to remain the same with a few months to go for exam. 

Also, there is no editing involved in a live photo whereas sometimes in studio captured photographs, the photographer tends to do light editing which sometimes creates drastic changes in a person’s appearance. 

Also, it will ensure that only that person who has to appear in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) will fill the form, and impersonators or identity thieves do not do it.

The report in live photo capturing in NEET 2020 also claims that there will be a system in place using which, those candidates whose pictures do not match will not be allowed to sit for the exam. This step will further drive away impersonators who take money from naive candidates and take the exam in their place; one of the many malpractices observed in entrance exams in India. 

If the change is finalised, then step by step details of live photographs capturing will be explained in the NEET 2020 information brochure that will be released with the application form on December 2, 2019. However even if this change is not implemented this time, NTA will take some or the other step to fight impersonators and miscreants who try to cheat the system.

There are already a number of checks in place at the exam centers wherein candidates cannot take communication devices, even rings or other jewellery, shoes are not allowed inside the exam centers in a bid to fight cheaters in exams, who have been earlier found to cary creative communication devices and chips hidden in various parts of clothing. 

National Testing Agency (NTA) will release application form for NEET 2020 at its official website. The official website of NTA is nta.ac.in. For NEET, official website was ntaneet.nic.in last time. However this time it may be neet.nta.nic.in (similar to jeemain.nta.nic.in). Active link of the website will be made available at nta.ac.in on the scheduled date. 

Last date to apply for NEET 2020 is December 31, 2019. After that admit card will be released on March 27, 2020. The exam will be held on May 3, 2020, and the result will be out on June 4, 2020.

NEET is now the only medical entrance exam in India. Yesterday, MHRD clarified that AIIMS and JIPMER MBBS entrance exams will no longer be conducted, from 2020-21 session itself.