Cabinet Secretary Dr TV Somanathan Friday reviewed the preparedness for the NEET re-examination in a meeting with the Director General, National Testing Agency (NTA). Besides, the agency has extended the examination window to 195 minutes and will be from 2 pm to 5.15 pm, which includes the time required for mandatory examination formalities such as signing of attendance sheets and other invigilation procedures.The NEET re-examination is scheduled to be held on June 21.During the review, the Cabinet Secretary emphasised the need for ensuring a smooth, transparent and secure conduct of the re-examination through close coordination among all concerned stakeholders.“The Central Government, state governments, and district administration are working together in close coordination, to ensure smooth conduct of the NEET re-examination. The full might and weight of the law will fall on any person trying in any manner to distort, disrupt or tamper with the integrity or smooth conduct of the re-examination,” said Somanathan.The Cabinet Secretary reviewed the arrangements with the Secretaries of the Central Government and relevant agencies on June 1. Subsequently, on June 4, he also held a review meeting with the Chief Secretaries of the state governments to assess the preparedness and progress of the arrangements.NTA said that the revised examination window has been designed to ensure that candidates are able to utilise the intended examination time without feeling that administrative processes are taking away from their opportunity to attempt the paper.“In addition, the space available for rough work in the question paper booklet has been increased. Candidates will now be will now be provided with four rough-work pages instead of two, giving them more room for calculations, diagrams and other workings during the examination,” NTA said in a public notice issued on Friday.Another important change relates to the design of the question paper booklet. Earlier, rough-work pages were provided only at the end of the booklet. “While this arrangement worked well for many candidates, feedback indicated that it was less convenient for some, particularly left-handed candidates. To address this, two rough-work pages have now been placed immediately after the instruction page at the beginning of the booklet, while two pages will continue to be available at the end. This revised layout has been incorporated in both English and regional language versions of the question paper so that candidates can use whichever pages are more convenient for them,” the testing agency said.