May 12, 2026 16:42 pm IST

Opinion | NEET Paper Leak: When Incompetence Becomes The System

India had been here before, exactly two years ago. The language was the same. The apology was the same. The promise was the same. Only the year had changed.

Jawahar Surisetti Jawahar Surisetti Columnist

Jawahar Surisetti Columnist

On May 3 this year, 23 lakh students appeared for NEET-UG - the single gateway to a doctor's profession in India. Within days, the National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled the examination, referred the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and issued its now-familiar statement about "transparency" and "trust". India had been here before, exactly two years ago. The language was the same. The apology was the same. The promise was the same. Only the year had changed.

This is not incompetence. Repeated incompetence, left uncorrected, becomes a system. India's examination governance has become a system that often faces major disruptions, absorbs outrage, and then resets.

What Happened in 2024

On May 5, 2024, NEET-UG faced allegations of a question paper leak. In Patna, Bihar, police arrested 13 people - including four examinees - who had allegedly paid Rs 30-50 lakh to obtain the question paper before the examination.

The scale of the irregularity went beyond paper leaks. A total of 67 students achieved a perfect score - a significantly higher number than in previous examinations - which created immediate controversy. Several examinees received scores of 718 or 719, which students argued was mathematically impossible under the exam's marking scheme.

On June 22, 2024, the government dismissed NTA Director General Subodh Kumar Singh from his position and handed the NEET-UG irregularities case to the CBI. This was framed as decisive action. To be more precise, it was the first move in a long game of institutional delay.

The CBI investigation revealed the mechanics of the breach with uncomfortable precision. The centre superintendent of Oasis Public School in Hazaribagh had left the back door of the strong room - where exam papers were stored - open. At 8:02 am, the accused entered the room with a toolkit, opened the locker, removed the seal from a question paper, and photographed it. No satellite hacking. No sophisticated encryption bypass. A toolkit, an open back door, and a complicit superintendent. The India of 2024 was losing its medical entrance examination to a screwdriver.

The CBI ultimately arrested 36 persons in relation to the NEET paper leak case. On July 23, 2024, the Supreme Court established that while a paper leak had undeniably occurred - where 155 students directly benefited - there was no indication it was widespread enough to affect the exam as a whole. On this narrow ground, the examination was not cancelled. Counselling proceeded. The crisis was declared managed.

The CBI Inquiry: Where Does It Stand?

The CBI inquiry of June 2024 produced arrests. By July 18, 2024, the Bureau had carried out various arrests, including four MBBS students from AIIMS Patna and a civil engineering student from NIT Jamshedpur in connection with the paper leak and the solving of the leaked paper. Total arrests reached........

© NDTV