Odisha medical PG exam paper shared on WhatsApp during test; OUHS orders probe

Bhubaneswar/Berhampur: Amid nationwide outrage over the NEET leak, a question paper of the Odisha medical PG examination was allegedly shared on social media during the test, officials said on Thursday. Photographs of a question paper of the All Odisha Medical PG Examination was found forwarded on a social media platform on July 27, when the theory exam of a subject of the 2023-26 batch PG students was underway, they said.

The photographs of the question paper (second) for General Surgery of the MS/MD course for the 2023-26 batch were allegedly shared on WhatsApp groups formed by some postgraduate students. Some also claimed that answers were circulated from certain numbers while the test was underway, they said. The matter came to light when a student of a private medical college in Bhubaneswar allegedly possessing the photographs of the question paper flagged the issue and disclosed that he had received it from a WhatsApp group formed by a student of MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur, an official said.

After learning about the incident in the evening of July 27, Odisha University of Health Sciences (OUHS) vice-chancellor Manas Ranjan Sahoo held a virtual meeting with the principals of the medical colleges where the PG medical exams were held. He suggested tightening security for the next exams, MKCG Medical College and Hospital dean-cum-principal Harekrushna Dalai said. "It is not a question paper leak.

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Had the question paper come out before the exam and reached the students, we could have termed it a leak. But, in this case, the question paper came out from the exam hall," Dalai said. "Despite our routine checking and disallowing of mobile phone sets in the exam hall, we are surprised to find such instances. We wonder what type of electronic devices were used to share images of the question paper," he added.

An internal investigation is underway to find out what device was used and how it came out, he said. The theory papers for the medical PG exams for the 2023-26 batch started from July 21. Two more exams are scheduled on August 1 and 5. A total of 154 students are appearing for the exam in MKCG Medical College and Hospital.