Centre prioritises 'safe and transparent' NEET 2026 re-exam, Education Minister chairs key meeting
New Delhi: After the cancellation of NEET 2026 over allegations of a nationwide paper leak, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan recnetly chaired the first high-level review meeting with senior officials to discuss the roadmap for conducting the re-examination for over 22 lakh medical aspirants.
The meeting, held at the Education Minister’s residence, focused on ensuring that the upcoming NEET re-exam is conducted in a “completely safe, transparent and credible manner” amid an expanding Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged multi-state leak network. Senior officials from the National Testing Agency (NTA), CBSE, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) participated in the discussions, while fresh exam dates are expected to be announced within the next few days.
According to recent ANI report, two days after the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 over alleged paper leaks, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday evening chaired the first high-level meeting with senior officials to discuss the upcoming re-examination.
The discussions during the meeting primarily focused on the NEET re-examination, for which fresh dates are yet to be announced.
"A high-level meeting was held late tonight at the residence of the Education Minister, where detailed discussions took place regarding the upcoming NEET examination," a source told ANI.
The meeting, held at the minister's residence, was attended by senior officials, including Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi, School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar, Director General of the National Testing Agency (NTA) Abhishek Singh, CBSE Chairperson Rahul Singh and commissioners of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), among others.
According to sources in the Ministry of Education, the government's "first priority" is to conduct the re-examination in a "completely safe, transparent and credible manner", even as modalities and timelines are being finalised.
While broad contours of the re-examination have been discussed, the exact dates are still being worked out and are expected to be announced in the next five to seven days, according to a senior NTA official.
The meeting involved a comprehensive review of the situation following the cancellation, the official said.
This was the first such high-level review chaired by Pradhan since the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 on May 12.
The National Testing Agency had cancelled the May 3 examination following allegations of a paper leak, impacting over 22 lakh candidates. The matter is currently under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), amid concerns over the integrity of the examination process.
Meanwhile, the Rouse Avenue court granted seven days' custody of the five accused arrested in the NEET UG Paper leak case. The CBI produced the accused Mangilal Biwal, Dinesh Biwal, Vikas Biwal, Shubham Khairnar, and Yash Yadav before the court.
Special Judge (CBI) Ajay Gupta remanded Mangilal Biwal, Dinesh Biwal, Vikas Biwal, Shubham Khairnar, and Yash Yadav for seven days of CBI custody.
While granting police custody, the court noted, "Allegedly, accused Dinesh Biwal, who is the brother of accused Mangilal and also the relative of accused Yash Yadav, had facilitated the circulation of NEET question paper in conspiracy with the co-accused persons."
The court said that, allegedly, there is a larger conspiracy angle present in this case, and the investigation is at its very nascent stage. The custody of the accused persons has been sought in order to unearth the entire conspiracy, as well as arrest all the active members of this organised paper leak gang and also for the recovery of all the relevant incriminating material.
The custody of these accused persons is also sought to prevent further tampering with the evidence, as allegedly, some of the accused persons have already deleted the incriminating data from their mobile phones, the court noted.
The court had directed the CBI to produce all the accused persons on May 20, 2026.
It is alleged that Mangilal Biwal contacted Shubham Khairnar for a question paper for his son Vikas Biwal. Thereafter, the larger chain was created with other Accused persons. It is also alleged that Shubham first leaked the paper to Yash, then Yash to Mangilal, to Vikas, to Dinesh Biwal and Lal further sold the leaked paper to various candidates for Rs 12 lakh, adds ANI report.
The NEET UG 2026 exam was conducted on May 3 by the National Testing Agency and was held from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM in pen-and-paper mode. Over 22.7 lakh aspirants appeared for the examination this year. It took place across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad, covering over 5,400 centres.
However, the NTA on May 12, 2026, declared the cancellation of the examination held on May 3 and subsequently announced the re-examination.
Also read- NEET 2026 cancelled, re-exam soon: NTA
The following decision triggered anxiety and anger among lakhs of medical aspirants across the country, many of whom said they were feeling shocked, stressed and uncertain about their future. While some aspirants supported the decision to cancel the examination in the interest of fairness, others said that they are being forced to suffer because of the actions of a few people.
The NTA had further informed that the Government of India decided to refer the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation for a comprehensive inquiry into the allegations after it declared to re-conduct the NEET UG 2026 examination soon. Based on the centre's direction, the CBI registered an FIR in the case.
This came in the backdrop of the probe by the Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group, which reportedly found a “guess paper” containing more than 100 questions similar to those asked in the NEET UG examination. The question paper series under scrutiny has been described as a “guess paper” which reportedly contained around 410 questions. Out of these, nearly 120 questions are alleged to have appeared in the Biology and Chemistry sections of the examination.
The investigation found that the leaked papers were circulated through WhatsApp and Telegram groups ahead of the NEET UG 2026 examination held on May 3. According to reports, the matter came to light after a Sikar-based MBBS student studying at a medical college in Kerala allegedly shared a PDF of a “guess paper” with his father on May 2. The father, who runs a PG accommodation facility in Sikar, reportedly circulated the document further to a chemistry and a biology teacher who identified the similarities in questions.
As the investigation widened, Rajasthan SOG and later the CBI uncovered what officials described as a multi-state network involving students, coaching-linked persons and middlemen. The alleged leak reportedly spread from Kerala and Rajasthan to Haryana, Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and other states.
Seeking action, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) and the Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors' Network (IMA-JDN) filed separate petitions before the Supreme Court demanding the replacement of NTA and strict action against the repeated paper leak incidences.
The issue also led to massive protests and condemnation by the medical fraternity, who blamed the NTA and the government for failing to prevent another paper leak controversy in 2026. They have criticised the authorities for playing with the future of over 22 lakh aspirants who appeared for the exam and are again forced to re-appear.
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