The government on Wednesday told Parliament that 45 students had been found involved in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) leak a year ago but remained silent on the possible involvement of officials at the exam centres.

In the Rajya Sabha, Congress member Neeraj Dangi had asked the government whether any administrative responsibility had been fixed. The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts NEET-Undergraduate, a single national entrance exam to select students for admission to MBBS and BDS courses.

Minister of state for education Sukanta Majumdar said a CBI inquiry was on and five chargesheets had been filed against 45 accused persons. He evaded the question if any officials were involved too. Majumdar added that there had been paper leaks during the All India Institute of Medical Sciences examination in 2006, the Common Proficiency Test in 2007 and the Common Law Admission Test in 2009 too.

DMK member Tiruchi Siva wanted to know how many public servants were involved in the NEET leak and what action had been taken against them. Majumdar said the 45 accused persons were students against whom steps were being taken.

“There is no systemic leak as mentioned by the Supreme Court. Steps will be taken against those who have resorted to unfair means. We have asked the authorities to take appropriate decisions on the 45 students, wherever they are studying,” Majumdar said.

He added that the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act provides for jail terms of three to five years and a fine of ₹1 crore.

AIADMK member M. Thambidurai said the coaching centres may be the root cause of the leaks. He asked if the government would ban the coaching centres.

“He said coaching centres may be the reason for these kinds of incidents. We have brought in the Act to punish the people responsible. We are trying to strengthen our system,” Majumdar said.

Trinamool Congress member Ritabrata Banerjee wanted to know why the NEET was held in the pen-and-paper mode when the Radhakrishnan committee had recommended online exams. Majumdar said the Radhakrishnan committee recommendations on strengthening NTA were being implemented.

“There are several recommendations. Some are long-term recommendations and some are for swift action. We have created 16 posts there (the NTA). We have filled three posts. We have held meetings with states for institutional linkages with the NTA,” he said.