NEET UG cancellation sparks outrage, stress among students, parents

Questions raised over security measures after alleged paper leak; parents question integrity of system

The cancellation of the NEET UG 2026 examination after reports of a large-scale paper leak has triggered anger, stress, and uncertainty among students and parents across Mumbai, with education experts and activists questioning how the breach occurred despite multiple security measures.

**EDS: FILE PHOTO** National Testing Agency cancelled the NEET (UG) 2026 exam conducted on May 3 amid allegations of paper leak, with the government asking the CBI to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the "irregularities", on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. NEET aspirants at an examination centre, in Patna, in this file photo dated, May 3, 2026. (PTI Photo) (PTI05_12_2026_000095B) (PTI)

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday announced that the NEET UG examination, conducted on May 3, would be cancelled and held again, after questions worth nearly 600 marks were allegedly leaked before the exam. The medical entrance examination was conducted across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad through more than 5,400 centres. Around 2.2 million students appeared for it, including nearly 270,000 from Maharashtra.

Parents said the decision to hold the exam again has caused severe emotional stress to their children, who had spent years preparing for it. Rahul Rajgarhia, whose daughter appeared for the exam, said, “We are very upset. My daughter texted me after hearing the news, and I immediately rushed home from office because she was crying.”

Rajgarhia said his daughter had worked extremely hard for the exam and was expecting admission in a government medical college based on her estimated score. “According to the marks we calculated, she could easily get a government medical college seat. For the last two years, she studied nearly 15 hours every day. She did not even use a smartphone and only kept an old phone for communication,” he said.

Another parent, Vaibhav Bhosale, demanded major reforms in the medical entrance process. “The government should stop conducting NEET and return to the old system with CET and other entrance methods. At exam centres, there are strict rules for students, including clothing restrictions and multiple checks, but the NTA itself failed to secure the system, which caused the paper leak,” he said.

Bhosale added that families invest significant time and money to prepare for the exam. “Our children put in so much effort, and now the re-examination has disturbed our entire schedule. The government should also stop the coaching class business and strengthen junior colleges by implementing NCERT books across boards,” he said.

Sangeeta Sawant, another parent, said students are forced to undergo repeated verification processes while the system itself has failed. “At exam centres, they take biometric impressions four or five times, but they are unable to protect their own system. This re-exam is creating more pressure on children,” she said.

Medical admissions counsellor Sudha Shenoy said the decision to cancel the exam was fair considering the scale of the alleged leak, but questioned why such incidents happen every year. “The NTA needs to introspect. There has to be accountability because such leaks suggest insider involvement much before papers reach exam centres,” she said.

Parent and activist Brijesh Sutaria called the cancellation an “extraordinary” decision. “Scrapping an examination involving more than 22 lakh aspirants clearly shows that the integrity of the examination process had come under serious doubt,” he said.

Sutaria said that although the re-test would cause mental stress and uncertainty, allowing a compromised exam to go ahead would have further damaged public trust. “What is equally concerning is that this happened despite AI surveillance, biometric verification, GPS-tracked question papers, watermark identifiers and 5G jammers. This raises serious questions about organised manipulation networks within the examination system,” he added.