‘Fair Chance…’: After NEET ‘paper leak’ series, over 20,000 appear for re-examination; NTA shares a ‘thank you’ note | Today’s news
More than 20 lakh candidates appeared for the re-examination of the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2026 2026 on Sunday, June 21. The re-examination was conducted after the original test on May 3 was canceled due to paper leaks.
Thousands of candidates appeared for the NEET (UG) 2026 examination at 5,440 centers in India and 14 centers abroad.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) said in a press release that around 7 million officials – police teams, observers and probationers – were mobilized across India to conduct the examination, “and it was conducted in a record 37 days.”
The agency thanked the stakeholders for successfully conducting the trial and hailed it as a “Team Bharat” effort.
NTA “thank you” note.
In a press release on Sunday, the agency said: “This was not the National Testing Agency acting alone. It was Team Bharat – a chain of people across the country who showed up so that the only thing that mattered to each candidate that morning was the paper in front of them.”
“A Whole-of-Government Effort”
The NTA said extensive measures have been taken to prevent any incident. These include:
1. Aadhaar based biometrics
5. Two-layer frisking with the support of the state police.
“Several state governments have made arrangements for students and parents – shade, water and food at centres, ambulances and medical facilities on standby and in many states free transport for candidates on exam day. National protocol, transferred to local care, centre-by-centre,” NTA said in its press release.
The NTA further mentioned the support of various government agencies in conducting the NEET examination.
“The conduct of the exam drew support from CAPF, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Posts, Indian Air Force, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Health and Welfare, NIC, MeitY, Ministry of Financial Services, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Education and our banking partners – SBI, Canara Bank, PNB and UCO Bank and many other stakeholders,” the state governments added.
Around 7 lakh officials – police teams, observers and investigative staff – were mobilized across India to conduct this investigation in a record 37 days.
“The NTA is particularly grateful to the experts from academic institutions across the country who gave their personal time to help prepare several sets of questions,” the agency said.
“To every candidate who wrote on June 21 – well done. And to all who made it possible: thank you. Team NTA. Team Bharat. One exam, passed together. A fair chance, a fresh start,” the press release concluded.
