The Nursing Officer Recruitment Common Eligibility Test (NORCET), conducted by AIIMS Delhi, has once again come under a cloud with fresh allegations of paper leak and cheating in this year’s prelims, reported Ashish Srivastava of The New Indian Express.
Candidates alleged that question papers had circulated on social media and that many of the questions that appeared in the exam were identical, despite AIIMS’ strict policy of not releasing papers publicly.
“Around 60 per cent of the questions that came in the entrance test were already circulating on social media,” one aspirant told this newspaper on condition of anonymity.
The latest allegations mirror the controversy of 2023, when similar charges prompted a CBI probe and multiple arrests. The TNIE had extensively reported on the matter.
A joint working committee of nursing associations has written to AIIMS Director Dr. M. Srinivas, calling the irregularities deeply troubling. “We are compelled to bring to your attention serious irregularities and lapses in the conduct of the recent NORCET examination, which have caused significant distress among aspirants and undermined the integrity of the process. There are alarming reports of the NORCET preliminary exam question paper being circulated on social media platforms, raising serious suspicions of a paper leak. Identical questions from the exam were found viral shortly after the test, despite AIIMS’s policy of not publicly releasing question papers,” the letter stated.
Adding to the controversy, candidates at several centres reported severe technical disruptions. In Jammu, glitches delayed the exam for hours, prompting frustrated aspirants to protest outside the venue.
Others spoke of repeated system crashes and poor management, which they said added to the anxiety of an already high-pressure test. NORCET is one of the largest recruitment examinations in the country, serving as a gateway for nursing officers in AIIMS and other central government hospitals.
With allegations of leaks surfacing for the second time in three years, candidates say the credibility of the exam is at stake. Many are now demanding a transparent probe and safeguards strong enough to restore faith in the process.
The joint committee urged AIIMS to act swiftly. “Such occurrences not only compromise the fairness of the examination but also jeopardise the future of honest candidates. We urgently request a thorough probe into the source of the viral content, strict action against those responsible, and measures to ensure the integrity of the examination process,” it said.