Govt planning tech-driven exams: Union minister Pralhad Joshi promises reforms after NEET-UG paper leak

NTA DG Abhishek Singh and Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi told panel several exam reforms are already in place, with more underway

After the recent leak controversy, Union minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday said that the government is considering bringing the reforms, assurance coming days ahead of the NEET-UG re-examination.

Prahlad Joshi said tech-driven exams and major reforms would be introduced by next year. (ANI)

"The government is very serious about that...The reforms are needed, we are bringing them, but they cannot be done within a year. By next year, technology-driven examination will be there," said Joshi.

The remarks come amid ongoing political debate over the NEET-UG 2026 examination, after NTA officials informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee that the paper was not leaked in full and that only certain questions had surfaced before the exam, as per the sources.

According to sources, NTA DG Abhishek Singh and Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi told the committee that several reforms recommended for strengthening the examination system had already been implemented, while work on the remaining measures was ongoing.

They also defended the cancellation under the agency's "zero-tolerance" policy, stating that even limited compromise of questions could undermine public trust in competitive examinations.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee also reviewed measures being taken to prevent similar incidents in the future and discussed proposals to shift NEET-UG to a computer-based testing format from next year.

Political tensions continue over the NEET-UG 2026 controversy, which led to the cancellation of the examination held on May 3 across 551 cities in India and 14 international centres, with over 22 lakh candidates appearing.

The re-examination is scheduled for June 21 under enhanced security measures mandated by the Union Education Ministry. (ANI)