Learning a lesson from the brouhaha over alleged irregularities in last year’s examination, NTR University of Health Sciences (NTRUHS) has taken several precautions for this year’s PG medical entrance test, to be held on March 11. In a first, the university has decided to issue the “key” a day after the examination as an effort to bring in transparency. The decision comes in the wake of complaints that last year’s medical entrance test was “rigged” to benefit a section of candidates, while students who expected good ranks did not even qualify.The authorities have also decided to upload OMR answer sheets of candidates on the website as soon as the results are announced on March 23. According to NTRUHS officials, 12,996 candidates have registered for this year’s entrance test, which will be held between 10 am and 1 pm. “We have taken all precautionary measures to check copying and impersonation cases this year. We will not allow candidates into the examination centres if they are late by even a minute after the exam starts,” ViceChancellor professor I.V. Rao said.The PG medical entrance test has faced controversies over the last few years due to “non-transparent” methods followed in conducting the examination. Claiming that the exam procedure had loopholes that led to irregularities, hundreds of medicos in medical colleges across the state last year sought that the examination should be conducted again. Following their agitation, the state government constituted a committee to look into the issue.The committee subsequently recommended that the university should adopt more transparent measures. The university has established 16 centres in eight cities across the Andhra Pradesh.With just about 800 Post Graduation seats in the medical field on offer in the state, the demand for admission is huge. Cashing in on the deficit, private colleges charge capitation fee and donations ranging from `1 crore to `1.5 crore, depending on the course, for admission in management quota.