• Source:JND

NEET UG Paper Leak Row: The National Testing Agency (NTA) is once again under fire over a paper leak, which has caused trouble for lakhs of students and their parents. This time, the paper leak menace hit the prestigious NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), prompting the authorities to declare a re-examination and a CBI probe.

The National Testing Agency on Tuesday announced the cancellation of NEET (UG) 2026 conducted on May 3, and said the examination will be re-conducted on dates to be notified separately.

What Has NTA Said?

The CBI will carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the allegations linked to the exam, the agency said. In a statement, the NTA said the decision was taken in the interest of maintaining transparency and preserving trust in the national examination system.

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Digvijay Singh-led Panel Flagged Loopholes In NTA Two Years Ago

Two years ago, a parliamentary committee headed by Congress MP Digvijay Singh had flagged serious concerns about the functioning of the NTA and recommended sweeping reforms to prevent paper leaks. The panel had questioned NTA's sufficiency in conducting full-proof exams, recommending the pen-and-paper mode for conducting the entrance examination. However, the recommendations of the panel were ignored by the government.

The parliament committee stated in its report that in 2024 alone, at least five of the 14 competitive examinations conducted by the NTA faced major problems. As a result, three exams (UGC-NET, CSIR-NET, and NEET-PG) had to be postponed, paper leaks were reported in one exam, NEET-UG, and the results of one exam, CUET (UG/PG), had to be postponed.

ALSO READ: NEET UG 2026 Cancelled Amid Question Paper Leak: Aspirants Call It 'Unfair And Traumatic'

"My demand is that the entire examination should be cancelled and it should be held as soon as possible and a completely impartial inquiry should be conducted into this matter under the new law passed by the Parliament and the culprits should be given the harshest punishment," the Congress leader wrote on X two years ago.

"The scam in NEET (UG)-2024 is extremely serious. This is the gigantic national form of the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, which not only casts doubt on the functioning of the National Examination Agency (NTA) but also shows it to be faulty and full of corruption. Despite the passing of The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill 2024 in Parliament in February 2024 and the enactment of strict laws in this regard, the nationwide scam by NTA in a major exam like NEET conducted for admission to medical colleges raises questions on the entire credibility of the government and the examination agency," he stated.

Meanwhile, in the JEE-Main 2025, held in January 2025, at least 12 questions had to be withdrawn due to errors in the final answer key for the engineering entrance exam. The committee said that such cases do not establish the confidence of the candidates in the system. The panel also suggested reducing dependence on private vendors, outsourcing and strengthening direct institutional control over exams.


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