Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday criticised the government over repeated instances of irregularities in national-level examinations, particularly the medical entrance exam NEET-UG “paper leak” controversy, and described the recurring lapses as "a betrayal of an entire generation."
Tharoor also questioned the credibility of India's examination system compared to global standards, asking why something administered by the government is so “messed up”.
"If you run a process where the integrity of the examinations cannot be trusted, where you are in a situation where, tragically, people who have spent so much effort in preparing suddenly find that there are leaks, there is corruption, there is dishonesty, and that the entire process is vitiated, sometimes exams are cancelled, and they have to start all over again," Tharoor said, speaking to ANI news agency.
"The world is full of competitive examinations that are conducted fairly, whether it's the SAT, the Cambridge exams or the ISC or whatever," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"The world is full of competitive examinations that are conducted fairly, whether it's the SAT, the Cambridge exams or the ISC or whatever," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"Why is it that it's only something that our government administers that is constantly being messed up? Why is the government in a situation where it is not able to guarantee the fairness and integrity of such a simple process as a national examination," the Thiruvananthapuram MP asked.
Fix the problem, Tharoor tells Centre
Holding Centre responsible for the recurring crises, Tharoor said it is “honestly” a lapse on the part of the government, and that the dispensation should be responsible and take action to fix the problem. Otherwise, it's a betrayal of an entire generation. We can only blame the government, he said.
"The government, the ministry, the NTA [National Testing Agency], all the people responsible for a situation where what is conducted in every other country in the world in India, somehow is done with this shameless leaking and incompetence. I think the government, which is headed by Prime Minister Modi, has an overall responsibility. This must never happen again. This is not the first time, but it must be the last time," he further added.
NEET (UG) is the nationwide entrance examination conducted by the NTA for admission in undergraduate medical programmes. NTA on May 12 said on it has decided to cancel the NEET (UG) 2026 examination conducted on May 3, 2026, and to re-conduct the examination amid allegations of paper leak.
The re-exam of NEET-UG 2026 has been rescheduled for June 21 as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) continues its probe and has made multiple arrests, while protests by student groups have intensified in several parts of the country.