New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said June 21 is the new date for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2026 re-examination, following the cancellation of the original test held on May 3.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Pradhan said the controversy began on May 7, when the National Testing Agency (NTA) received a complaint suggesting that a circulating “guess paper” contained questions that had appeared in the actual exam. The Higher Education Department launched an immediate inquiry and referred the matter to central government agencies, who subsequently coordinated with state authorities.
By May 12, it was confirmed that the so-called guess paper had contained genuine questions leaked from the examination.
The minister stated that the government was unwilling to allow deserving students to be disadvantaged due to the actions of what he described as an “education mafia,” or to permit undeserving candidates to benefit through dishonest means. He acknowledged a lapse in the system despite the earlier implementation of recommendations made by the Radhakrishnan Committee, which had been formed following a previous irregularity.
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According to him, the government accepts responsibility for addressing the failure.
Pradhan reaffirmed the Centre’s commitment to a zero-error, zero-tolerance approach for entrance examinations. He expressed confidence in the NTA’s current leadership and assured that steps would be taken to eliminate errors going forward.
On the question of exam format, the minister announced that starting next year, the examination will shift to a Computer-Based Test mode, identifying the OMR-based system as the root vulnerability in the current process.
Regarding the upcoming re-exam, Pradhan confirmed that no registration fee will be charged to candidates, adding that the NTA had already announced a fee refund on the day the original examination was cancelled.
