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Once bitten, doubly shy: this saying surely does not use to the National Testing Agency (NTA). Given the fig of times that the Agency has tally into occupation successful the behaviour of communal entranceway exams, it would person been logical to expect those astatine the helm to person learnt their lessons. However, this week’s cancellation of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-UG affecting implicit 22 lakh students is simply a superior stroke to the agency’s reputation. The NTA, connected May 12, 2026, announced the cancellation of the exam held connected May 3, amid allegations of insubstantial leak, arsenic the authorities tasked the CBI with carrying retired a broad inquiry. The determination followed investigations revealing that a ‘guess paper’ — a postulation of predicted, high-importance questions created to assistance students hole — matched galore questions successful chemistry and biology. Media reports said that this worldly had reached coaching hubs successful Rajasthan astir a period ahead, and had been sold to aspirants for immense sums. This led to investigations by the Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group and 15 radical were arrested. In the look of specified evident fraud, the NTA maintained the enactment that the determination to cancel the exam was taken “in the involvement of students and successful designation of the spot connected which the nationalist introspection strategy rests”. The question though, is: does the NTA inactive bask that trust? NEET has been dogged by contention close from the start, with respective States opposing the format. But adjacent aft it was rolled retired crossed the country, the NTA, arsenic the bureau conducting the exam, has suffered respective dents to its credibility, with assorted charges and controversies coming up with depressing regularity. This includes the 2019 impersonation scam successful Tamil Nadu wherever students utilized proxies to constitute the exam; the 2022 contention of frisking miss examinees successful Kerala, and the 2024 insubstantial leak and grace marks controversy.
The K. Radhakrishnan committee, which was constituted to urge reforms successful the introspection process, recommended a restructuring of the NTA, and creating beardown organization linkages with State and territory authorities successful bid to nutrient a unafraid trial medication apparatus. Among others, it besides made recommendations for multi-stage testing, hybrid usage of papers and computers, and a bid of measures to forestall breaches and malpractices. It would beryllium a transgression to let the NTA to proceed with its inept behaviour of communal entranceway exams, impacting the aboriginal of respective lakhs of students. NEET was introduced arsenic a measurement to bring into play a single, standardised, and transparent entranceway exam for aesculapian admissions. But the transparency that it has truthful acold shown is of an wholly antithetic kind: leaks and breaches of confidentiality.
