NEET UG Cancelled: India's Top Medical Exam Leaked; 22.79 Lakh Candidates Affected

In a massive development that has shaken India’s medical entrance examination system, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has officially cancelled NEET UG 2026 following allegations of widespread question-paper similarities and possible malpractice.

The examination, conducted on May 3 for nearly 22.79 lakh registered candidates across 5,432 centres in 551 Indian cities and 14 international locations, will now be re-conducted on fresh dates to be announced later.

The Government of India has also referred the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation for a detailed probe into the allegations, reports NDTV.

According to a media report in India Today, the controversy has revived concerns raised earlier by a parliamentary panel headed by Digvijaya Singh, which had warned about vulnerabilities in the NTA’s examination system after earlier paper leak controversies involving NEET, JEE and UGC-NET. The committee had recommended stricter oversight, reduced dependence on private vendors, stronger security systems, and government-controlled examination centres.

Despite enhanced security measures this year, including biometric verification, GPS tracking and AI-assisted CCTV monitoring, investigators in Rajasthan reportedly found significant overlap between a circulated “guess paper” and the actual examination paper, deepening the ongoing trust crisis surrounding national entrance examinations.