The paper leaks in the NEET UG Examination (medical undergraduate admissions) have pushed the future of nearly 22.79 lakh students into deep uncertainty, anxiety, and distress. Ongoing CBI investigations have exposed a disturbing network of organised malpractice operating across Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Kashmir. Under the guise of coaching institutes, “guess papers,” and “mock tests,” question papers were allegedly sold through a well-coordinated multi-state racket. This is clearly not an accidental “paper leak,” but a carefully organised “paper loot” sustained by huge sums of money and systemic corruption.

Given the federal nature of education and the immense social and linguistic diversity of India, State Governments must have a decisive role in the admission process and allotment of seats. The All-India People’s Science Network (AIPSN) therefore calls for the dismantling of both the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the NEET system.

Since its establishment in 2017, the NTA has repeatedly failed to maintain the integrity, transparency, and sanctity of major examinations such as NEET UG and UGC-NET. Reports indicate that leaked papers were sold openly for lakhs of rupees despite the enactment of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.

The NTA currently conducts several high-stakes examinations including NEET UG, JEE Main, UGC-NET, CUET-UG, CUET-PG, CMAT, GPAT, NCET, and SWAYAM, thereby controlling the future of more than 80 lakh students every year. Yet such enormous responsibility has been entrusted to an agency that is not a statutory public body created through an Act of Parliament, but merely a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. Despite collecting enormous revenues through examination fees, the NTA remains outside effective parliamentary accountability and CAG audit scrutiny.

Moreover, the NTA lacks the academic and institutional capacity required for conducting such critical national examinations. Its repeated failures are severely impacting students, families, and society at large. A major part of its operations depends on outsourced agencies, contractual staff, deputed officers, temporary examination personnel, and private technology partners, making the entire examination system vulnerable to manipulation, commercialisation, and corruption.

AIPSN Concerns and Views

The Medical Council of India announced the introduction of NEET UG in 2010, replacing the earlier AIPMT (All India Pre-Medical Test) and various state-level entrance examinations, with implementation proposed from 2012 onwards. Several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, strongly opposed the move. They pointed to major differences between the MCI syllabus and state syllabi, as well as the impracticality of imposing a centralised examination system in a multilingual and multicultural country like India. Consequently, the CBSE and MCI postponed NEET for one year.

Subsequently, on 18 July 2013, the Supreme Court of India quashed NEET for admissions to medical and dental colleges, ruling that the Medical Council of India could not impose a unified entrance examination. However, this judgment was later recalled by a five-judge Constitution Bench on 11 April 2016, leading to the restoration of NEET.

AIPSN believes that the repeated incidents of paper leaks and corruption demand a judicial inquiry under the supervision of the Supreme Court of India. In the present situation, medical admissions for this year should be based on school examination marks rather than imposing the enormous burden of another NEET examination on students.

Earlier, NEET was conducted by the CBSE, but it is now conducted by the NTA in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. From the very beginning, concerns had been raised that the structure and functioning of the NTA would inevitably lead to large-scale irregularities and scams. These fears proved correct during the NEET UG and UGC-NET controversies of 2024, and the crisis has now reappeared on an even larger scale in 2026. Media reports and public discussions have also raised serious questions regarding the possible political links of some accused individuals.

Playing with the future of deserving students must stop immediately. Conducting highly competitive examinations, cancelling them after allegations of corruption and paper leaks, and then forcing nearly 23–24 lakh students to undergo re-examinations imposes enormous emotional, financial, and psychological burdens not only on students and families, but also on the nation’s resources.

All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN) Strongly Demands:

• Scrapping of NEET and the NTA, and transfer of examination responsibilities to competent public institutions and academic bodies.
• Immediate end to the outsourcing of examinations and related processes.
• Admissions through State-level entrance examinations with due weightage to students’ school examination marks, with final authority resting with State Governments.
• Rejection of single-stage MCQ-based testing as the sole method for assessing students’ abilities and aptitude. Multi-stage evaluation systems should identify students committed to serving society, rather than producing self-serving professionals.
• State Governments should organise special support courses for deserving students instead of pushing them into expensive private coaching systems.
• Ban on private coaching centres linked to competitive entrance examinations.
• Fast-track judicial proceedings against all individuals and institutions involved in selling “guess papers” and leaked question papers, with strict punishment for those found guilty.
• Resignation of the Union Education Minister.