NEET Is Far From Being Neat: Exam Cancellation Causes Embarrassment For Government
· Free Press Journal
Mumbai, May 13: The Union government has suffered the deep embarrassment of having to cancel the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2026 for medical seats, frustrating 22 lakh aspirants who wrote the examination on May 3. They must take a fresh test now. Preliminary reports of this year’s fiasco point to leaked questions in biology and chemistry in Rajasthan that then circulated to multiple cities and other states. A Rajasthan Special Operations Group and, later, the CBI, have taken over the investigation; one individual has been arrested in Nashik.
A similar leak two years ago convulsed NEET, and the new crisis poses hard questions for the National Testing Agency (NTA). It is fair to ask what lessons were learnt from the previous instance. In 2024, the epicentre was Bihar, where 13 people were detained; at a centre in Godhra, Gujarat, examiners allegedly offered to fill in the answers for questions.
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Questions raised over NTA accountability
The previous crisis, too, was entrusted to the CBI, but system reform was obviously not undertaken based on its findings. It is significant that the Supreme Court did not accept a plea to cancel the NEET 2024 test on the reasoning that it had not created a systemic failure, but the bench led by then Chief Justice DY Chandrachud made strong observations on the failure of the NTA to ensure the integrity of the test.
Crucially, it pointed to the severely compromised nature of question paper transport and access, which facilitated pilfering of questions in Bihar. Regrettably, the court’s direction to address the lacunae has not resulted in a foolproof system even two years later.
A string of failures with NEET poses the uncomfortable question of who is really accountable for the integrity of a test that is the basis for selecting future doctors. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, under whose watch two incidents have taken place, must explain why reform of the NTA is proving so difficult, even when the test is challenged by well-oiled examination theft networks.
Calls grow for digital reforms in examination system
A petition filed in the Supreme Court by the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA) in response to the current crisis seeks digital locking of question papers and a transition to a Computer-Based Test (CBT), along with court supervision of reform.
Digital encryption is technically superior, since the question paper only needs to be released via an official channel at the last minute, with printers in test centres providing copies to candidates.
More fundamentally, if NEET lacks transparency and credibility, it attracts legitimate criticism from states, which can do a better job themselves. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Bengal have, thus far, attacked NEET as a flawed measure that deprives rural students and the poor of opportunity, as they are outpriced by the coaching-centre industry.
Evidently, the Union government cannot afford to adopt a business-as-usual approach when the test is so badly compromised.