- The whole nation must hang its head in shame and embarrassment while comprehending how and where we went wrong in depriving our young generation of students aspiring to get into the medical profession. The disturbing paper leak linked to the NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) conducted by the NTA (National Testing Agency) is repeating with such alarming regularity that one must be forced to wonder what’s happening with the agency tasked to conduct one of the most coveted entrance exams in the country. This points out a systemic faultline playing with the lives of lakhs of aspirational students aiming big. We all can understand the trauma, anxiety, and frustration suffered by the students and their parents because of the unfolding fiasco.
PC: Select Your University
- Looked from any angle, the ease with which the NEET exam papers are leaked suggests a well-connected network hell-bent on exploiting the glaring lacuna in the system, jeopardizing the lives of so many. Also, it’s inexplicable why the education ministry hasn’t moved to overhaul NTA. Mind you, nodal testing body NTA has fragility in-built. It is not a statutory body; accountability is iffy, it is highly dependent on contractual employees, and it has no watchdog overseeing it. Given that the NTA conducts at least 15 national-level exams, its very foundation is weak. These are points that emerge after every paper leak. Yet, the GOI’s Ministry of Education hasn’t moved decisively. In limbo are youngsters who wound up through their formative years, to sit for various tests.
PC: DNA India
- For the 23L medical aspirants this year, is there any guarantee that a re-test won’t suffer a similar fate? Going by the shuffling of feet in both ministry and NTA, this is hardly the last leak. It’s not safe to assume that in 2025, in some corner, a question paper wasn’t sold – given the experiences of 2021, 2024, and 2026. It’s more likely no one was caught in the years between. The MO isn’t new, nor have any of the lacunae, identified for years, been plugged. That’s what raises questions, and eyebrows. First, why weren’t any of the ways to minimize the risk of paper leaks, including 101 suggestions by 2024’s Radhakrishnan committee, implemented? Why hasn’t NTA moved to less expensive, obvious, and tried-and-tested ways to nullify the risk of a paper leak?
PC: News18 Hindi
- The simplest way is to have multiple sets – results normalized during grading. No rocket science. After all, how many would an aspirant buy, when a set costs upwards of Rs.10L? Third, why, after sacking the NTA chief in 2024, did the GOI leave the post without a full-time director until March 2026? Finally, will insiders be thoroughly probed? Note that all entrance exams are an industry – coaching, hostels, books, publishers, ed-tech, apps. It’s endless, in fact. Add to that the profitable exam mafia. ROI on buying a question paper is huge – if anyone makes the grade, a govt college costs a fraction of private medical study. Even a small leak can change ranks. That’s why the clamour. The Education Ministry must initiate the much-needed reforms forthwith. Period. Last heard, the Ministry has decided to conduct a computer-based test from next year.
