NEET-UG 2026 Paper Leak: India's Medical Entrance Exam Cancelled Again

educationexam-integrityinstitutional-failureyouthaccountabilityPan-India (leak network traced to Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar)3 May 2026

What happened

On 3 May 2026, over 2.27 million students sat for NEET-UG, India's only national medical entrance exam. Within days, a chemistry teacher in Sikar, Rajasthan noticed that a 'guess paper' circulating among students matched roughly 120 to 140 questions in the actual exam. On 12 May, the National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled the exam and referred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI arrested at least 13 people, including three teachers who sat on the NTA's own question-paper-setting committee and are alleged to have leaked the papers from the inside.

Toll

Student suicides linked to cancellation

—

Students affected by cancellation

2270000

Arrests made (CBI)

Disputes

Student suicides linked to cancellation

At least 14 by mid-June 2026; 3 widely reported in first week

— India Today analysis, media reports

Root cause

What directly caused this incident

Confirmed by CBI

The leak was carried out by teachers who were appointed by the NTA itself to set the NEET-UG 2026 question paper. CBI investigators found that three NTA-appointed subject experts — chemistry professor P.V. Kulkarni, biology teacher Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, and physics teacher Manisha Sanjay Havaldar — recalled questions from memory during the paper-setting process and shared them with coaching networks. Mandhare ran private 'memorization sessions' at her Pune home weeks before the exam, where students noted down questions that later appeared in the actual paper. The questions were then converted into PDFs and sold for anywhere between Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh, circulated via WhatsApp and Telegram across Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and other states. The same racket is suspected of having compromised the NEET-UG 2025 paper too, suggesting this was not a one-off failure but a functioning criminal enterprise that operated inside the NTA's own expert committee without detection.

In short: In short: NTA-appointed question-paper setters leaked the exam from inside the paper-setting process itself, bypassing all external security measures.

Systemic failures

These failures existed before this incident — and will cause the next one unless the system changes.

01 Critical priority

No independent vetting or surveillance of NTA question-paper setters

The NTA recruits teachers and professors to set exam questions without any external background checks, financial conflict-of-interest screening, or surveillance during the paper-setting period. This meant that the very people trusted to write the exam were able to recall and sell questions with no detection mechanism in place. The 2024 NEET-UG leak — also linked to a network operating from Bihar and Rajasthan — showed the same gap: insiders with access to papers faced no independent monitoring. Across India, competitive exam leaks including the Madhya Pradesh Vyapam scam (2013) and the UP teacher recruitment paper leak (2024) all exploited the same absence: no third-party audit of those given access to question papers before the exam.

NEET-UG 2024 Bihar paper leak; Vyapam scam, MP, 2013; UP teacher recruitment leak, 2024

Solved elsewhere

In South Korea, the Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute uses a fully isolated CBT system where no individual paper setter can access or memorize a full exam; setters are confined without personal devices and work in compartmentalized teams verified against a national integrity registry.

02 Critical priority

Pen-and-paper exam format makes question papers a physical object that can be photographed and distributed

NEET-UG is one of the last high-stakes national entrance exams in India that still uses a physical paper and OMR sheet. Unlike JEE Main and CAT — both computer-based — the NEET paper exists as a printed object that can be photographed with a phone, scanned, converted to a PDF, and shared on WhatsApp in minutes. In this case, investigators believe the questions were photographed or scanned in Nashik and distributed digitally across five states before exam day. The 2024 NEET leak followed the same physical-to-digital distribution route. As long as a printed paper exists, any insider with a phone and seconds of access can compromise the entire exam.

NEET-UG 2024 — paper photographed in Patna and shared via digital channels before exam; Rajasthan teacher recruitment paper leak (2023)

Solved elsewhere

JEE Main and CAT (India) already run in computer-based mode without comparable paper-leak incidents. South Korea's medical licensing exam fully transitioned to CBT in 2022 with no leak incidents reported since.

03 Critical priority

No named individual duty-holders inside NTA for exam security

The NTA operates as a single organization with no clearly assigned senior official personally responsible for question-paper security, leak prevention, or end-to-end exam integrity. When failures happen, accountability is diffused across the institution. The Supreme Court specifically called this out in May 2026, saying 'unless you identify the duty holders, it will be a diffused obligation.' The same structural ambiguity existed in 2024: the NTA chief was removed after the fact, but no system of personal accountability had existed before the leak happened. Comparable institutions in India like the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) have a named chairperson personally accountable to Parliament for exam integrity — a structure the NTA has never had.

NEET-UG 2024 — NTA chief removed after the fact but no pre-existing accountability structure; UGC-NET 2024 paper leak from NTA

Solved elsewhere

UPSC (India) has a statutory chairperson personally accountable to Parliament. Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the US has a named Chief Security Officer responsible for GRE and TOEFL integrity, with mandatory public reporting after any breach.

04 High priority

Reform committee recommendations from 2024 were not fully implemented before 2026

After the 2024 NEET-UG scandal, the government set up a 101-recommendation committee chaired by former ISRO chief K. Radhakrishnan. A High-Powered Steering Committee was then formed in November 2024 to monitor implementation. Yet a leak by the same racket reoccurred in 2026 — and CBI found the same network had likely compromised NEET-UG 2025 as well. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education noted in June 2026 that despite the 2024 recommendations, 'paper irregularities are still happening', and asked the Ministry for a 'time-bound implementation roadmap' — which still does not exist. This is the pattern: India constitutes reform committees after each exam scandal, does not enforce implementation, and cycles back to the same crisis.

Post-2024 NEET reforms partially implemented, same network active in 2025 and 2026; Vyapam scam — post-scandal reforms promised but not enforced, scam recurred

Tracking the fix

7 actions tracked. 0 are seeing real movement. 7 have none.

Commitment to move NEET to Computer-Based Test format from 2027

Announced

Closes Systemic GapMedium PracticalityMedium Complexity

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on 16 May 2026 that NEET-UG will shift to a Computer-Based Test (CBT) format starting with the 2027 exam. This would eliminate the physical printed paper — the object that was photographed and distributed in both the 2024 and 2026 leaks. JEE Main and CAT already run in CBT mode without comparable leak incidents in India.

Done elsewhere: JEE Main (India, ongoing, no comparable paper-leak incidents); CAT (India, ongoing); Korean Medical Licensing Examination (CBT since 2022, no leak incidents reported)

Raise your voice

".@MoE_GoI announced #NEET2027 will go CBT. But 2027 is over a year away. Will the @NTA_Exams publish a specific CBT rollout plan — centres, infrastructure, pilot tests — before June? Students deserve a date, not a promise. https://publicmemory.in/cases/neet-ug-2026-paper-leak"

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Supreme Court directive to fix named individual duty-holders within NTA

In Progress

Partly Closes GapHigh PracticalityLow Complexity

The Supreme Court bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe directed the Ministry of Education to prepare a comprehensive NTA restructuring roadmap, specifically requiring that named senior individuals be assigned personal responsibility for exam security. The NTA filed an affidavit confirming induction of two Additional Directors General at Joint Secretary level. The matter is listed for further hearing in July 2026.

Done elsewhere: UPSC (India) — statutory chairperson personally accountable to Parliament for exam integrity

Raise your voice

".@MoE_GoI filed an NTA affidavit with SC naming new duty-holders. But the July hearing is months away. Publish the full NTA accountability structure publicly NOW — who is personally responsible if #NEET2027 is leaked? @DPradhanOfficial https://publicmemory.in/cases/neet-ug-2026-paper-leak"

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Mandatory background checks and financial conflict-of-interest screening for all NTA paper setters

Not Started

Partly Closes GapHigh PracticalityLow Complexity

The NTA currently appoints teachers and professors to set questions without any documented background check, police verification, or financial disclosure requirement. A rule change under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024 could mandate this. Paper setters should be required to declare any association with coaching institutions, undergo police clearance, and sign a financial penalty bond before appointment. This rule change requires only a notification — no new legislation is needed.

Done elsewhere: Several Indian states including UP, Bihar, and Rajasthan have passed anti-cheating laws with provisions for screening examination officials; the UP Public Examination Act 2024 includes background verification provisions for examination officials.

Raise your voice

"Three NTA paper setters sold #NEET2026 questions. No background check was required before they were appointed. .@MoE_GoI can fix this with a single notification — mandatory police clearance and coaching-institute disclosure for all NTA paper setters. When? https://publicmemory.in/cases/neet-ug-2026-paper-leak"

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Establish a permanent, independent National Examination Integrity Commission

Not Started

Closes Systemic GapMedium PracticalityMedium Complexity

The Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA) petitioned the Supreme Court to create a permanent independent oversight body — a National Examination Integrity Commission — to supervise NTA's examination security on an ongoing basis, replacing ad-hoc post-scandal committees. This body would have statutory authority, a permanent expert staff, and the power to audit the NTA at any time. The Supreme Court noted the need for a 'permanent expert body within the NTA' during May 2026 hearings.

Done elsewhere: Educational Testing Service (ETS, USA) operates as a permanent independent testing organization with its own security auditing function, independent of the government bodies that mandate the exams. The UK's Ofqual is a statutory independent regulator for qualifications and exams.

Raise your voice

"India set up a reform committee after every NEET leak since 2015. None stopped the next one. .@MoE_GoI: create a permanent Exam Integrity Commission with statutory power to audit the NTA year-round — not another ad-hoc panel. https://publicmemory.in/cases/neet-ug-2026-paper-leak"

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Statements & demands

Justice Alok Aradhe — Judge, Supreme Court of India

"Despite your monitoring, if this incident has happened, then there would be a problem with the recommendation. Or the monitoring may not have happened."

2026-05-25

LawBeat: SC on NTA accountability LiveLaw: FAIMA petition

Digvijaya Singh — Chair, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports; Member of Parliament

"The NTA must publish a time-bound implementation roadmap for the HLCE recommendations at the earliest."

2026-06-16

Careers360: Parliament panel seeks NTA roadmap

Justice P.S. Narasimha — Judge, Supreme Court of India

"The real problem won't stop till actual accountability arises. Unless you identify the duty holders, it will be a diffused obligation."

2026-05-25

LawBeat: SC on NTA accountability India Legal: SC directs NTA restructuring

Tanvi Dubey — Advocate, counsel for FAIMA (Federation of All India Medical Associations) petition before the Supreme Court

"A permanent National Examination Integrity Commission or equivalent independent oversight body must be established to supervise NTA examinations on a continuous basis."

2026-05-13

LiveLaw: FAIMA petition for NTA restructuring India Legal: SC directs NTA restructuring

Act

Dharmendra Pradhan is the Union Education Minister who directly oversees the NTA and can issue a ministerial notification requiring background checks and conflict-of-interest disclosures for all NTA-appointed paper setters — the exact gap that made this leak possible. He has already admitted the system failed; this is the specific rule change that closes it.

Ask: Dharmendra Pradhan (@DPradhanOfficial)

Raise your voice

"@DPradhanOfficial Three NTA paper setters sold #NEET2026 questions. No background check was required before their appointment. One notification can fix this: mandate police clearance and coaching-centre disclosure for all NTA paper setters before #NEET2027. {article_url}"

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