Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The National Testing Agency on Friday announced that the re-examination for NEET (UG) 2026 will be held on Sunday, June 21.The decision comes days after the agency cancelled the NEET-UG exam conducted on May 3 following allegations of irregularities, impacting lakhs of medical aspirants across the countryEarlier, the government also ordered a comprehensive Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged irregularities surrounding the examination.Earlier cancelling the exam, the NTA said that the decision was taken “in the interest of students” and to protect public trust in the national examination system.“On the basis of inputs subsequently examined by NTA in coordination with central agencies, and the investigative findings shared by the law enforcement agencies, the National Testing Agency, with the approval of the Government of India, has decided to cancel the NEET (UG) 2026 examination conducted on 3 May 2026, and to re-conduct the examination on dates that will be notified separately,” the agency posted on X.“The inputs received by NTA, taken together with the findings shared by the law enforcement agencies, established that the present examination process could not be allowed to stand. The re-conducted examination dates, along with the re-issued admit-card schedule, will be communicated through the official channels of the agency in the coming days,” it added.
Why was NEET-UG 2026 cancelled?
The move comes days after investigators uncovered evidence suggesting that a question set described by officials as a “guess paper” had circulated among aspirants weeks before the exam and allegedly contained a large number of questions that closely matched the actual NEET paper.According to investigators, a document containing around 410 questions had been circulating among students between 15 days and one month before the exam. Officials said nearly 120 questions from the Chemistry section allegedly matched the actual examination paper exactly.Authorities also claimed that the material had been shared through WhatsApp groups as little as 42 hours before the exam.The Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG), which is leading the initial investigation, launched a probe after reports surfaced that the circulated material showed “striking similarities” to questions asked in the examination.SOG additional director general Vishal Bansal said investigators were examining whether the material was merely a test series or part of a larger organised cheating racket.”Our investigation is currently focused on determining whether any cheating or criminal activity has occurred based on this guess paper,” Bansal said, as reported by ANI.“We are actively examining this matter and are currently engaged in the investigative process. No, as of now, we have not made any arrests of any kind,” he added.Bansal noted that investigators found a set of over 400 questions circulated days before the exam, with over 100 biology and chemistry questions showing “striking similarities” to those asked in NEET.Bansal described it as a “guess paper” or test series, but sources said a deeper nexus has not been ruled out, citing searches and questioning across several Rajasthan cities and in Dehradun.Similar videos and copies of test-series question papers were also shared on social media from a coaching academy in Latur, Maharashtra.
