Prof. (Dr.) Dharmakanta Kumbhakar
(The writer can be reached at drkdharmakanta@yahoo.com)
The NEET (UG)-2026 question paper leak and cancellation of the entrance test held on May 3 last have subjected 2.2 million aspirants and their families to an extreme level of mental stress. The test will now be reconducted on June 21. The incident has brought the focus back on the demand to stop the National Testing Agency (NTA) from conducting the exam, scrap NEET (UG), and allow state government-conducted entrance examinations or Class XII board examination results to be taken as the basis for admission into state quota seats in state government and private medical colleges. The same demand had arisen during the NEET (UG)-2024 fiasco as well.
When looking for possible solutions to this mess, it is important to remember that in the pre-NEET era, dozens of undergraduate medical entrance tests used to be conducted across India. Students had to appear for multiple examinations, pay multiple exam fees, travel to different places for different exams, and worry about clashes in exam dates. Along with these issues, there were reports of frequent scams, especially in the entrance examinations conducted by private medical colleges. Crores paid for admission into private medical colleges were mostly unaccounted for money, euphemistically called ‘donations’ or ‘capitation fees’. In many states, even the state government-conducted entrance tests for government medical colleges were compromised. Therefore, there was a rising demand to put an end to all such practices and ensure admission based on merit.
With a final push from the Supreme Court and despite objections from states, NEET (UG) was launched in 2016 to put an end to multiple undergraduate medical entrance tests, to bring in merit-based admission, and to tackle capitation fees at private medical institutions. The nationwide single entrance test became the sole and mandatory gateway for all government and private medical and dental undergraduate admissions across India, including AIIMS, JIPMER, central medical institutes, etc. Though the exam was initially conducted by the CBSE, since 2019 it has been exclusively administered by the NTA.
While NEET (UG) has successfully replaced numerous exams with a single test, it has not fulfilled its fundamental mandate of ensuring merit. The integrity of the NEET (UG) has now been compromised, posing a grave threat to the credibility of the system on which the nation’s medical education rests. Recurrent NEET (UG) question paper leaks expose the incompetence of the NTA in putting in place a foolproof deterrent. Scams involving leaked question papers have been affecting millions of NEET (UG) aspirants across the country, undermining the efforts of genuine candidates and subjecting them and their families to an extreme level of trauma.
Strengthening the exam security systems is essential to stop such scams. The NEET conducting authority needs a multifaceted approach that should combine stringent security measures, administrative reforms, public involvement and technological advancement. Exam security needs to be strengthened through centralised facilities for paper setting, storing and distribution – all equipped with advanced surveillance systems as well as access control mechanisms – which will help prevent unauthorised access. The outsourcing of sensitive functions, such as setting and printing question papers, invigilation, and correction, should be discontinued. This will help ensure that responsibility can be easily traced and fixed. Biometric access controls need to be used to ensure that only authorised personnel can access and enter secure areas, such as paper printing and storage areas. Multi-factor authentication must be implemented to add an extra layer of security. Steps such as distribution of multiple sets of randomised question papers, encrypted printing, secure transportation, using blockchain for paper security and AI-enabled surveillance systems need to be taken to stop such leaks.
An alternative to NEET (UG) may be the decentralisation of the current nationwide single undergraduate medical entrance test. There is an urgent need to undo the centralisation of everything, especially in health and education, which are the domains of the states. Medical education must allow for local input, with states being allowed to tailor admission policies according to their needs. The States can be allowed to conduct entrance tests, or Class XII board examination results may be used as the basis for admission into state quota seats. As 85% of seats in most government medical colleges and 50% of seats in private medical colleges of the states are open only to students from the respective states, there is actually no reason why a state should not use Class XII board marks for admission. For many states, it might make a lot of sense to revert to Class XII board exam results as the basis for admission into state quota seats in medical colleges.
Meanwhile, the states whose school systems are too uneven in quality could conduct entrance exams for state quota seats in medical colleges. It would also help save poorer students from having to spend on coaching for NEET (UG), as they could opt out of trying to crack the all-India quota and only concentrate on scoring well in Class XII and state-conducted entrance tests to gain admission into a college within their state. This initiative will also stop the culture of coaching and integrated classes between coaching centres and dummy schools.
However, private medical colleges, whether deemed universities or otherwise, must not be allowed to conduct their own admission tests for the management/NRI quota. They have strong incentives to game the system, and state governments have proved totally ineffective in regulating them. High scorers often have to forego seats in expensive private medical colleges, which then accommodate poor scorers whose parents have deep pockets. Thus, money continues to decide who gets admission into almost half the medical seats in private medical colleges in the country. Moreover, since their intake is from all over India, there is every reason to club them with the all-India quota and subject them to a centralised entrance test. Thus, the case for an all-India exam for about 40% to 50% (15% all-India quota in government medical colleges, plus management/NRI quota in private medical colleges) of MBBS seats remains strong.