The NEET-UG exam will be conducted online from the next session. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced this on Friday. He admitted that the NEET-UG 2026 exam papers, held on May 3, were leaked.
He said, “We did not want any wrong candidates to be selected. Therefore, we took the decision to cancel the exam with great responsibility. Now, the exam will be held on Sunday, June 21st. The irregularities were discovered on May 7th. The NTA informed the government. Then, the decision was taken to re-conduct the exam on May 12th.”
The Education Minister said, “Students will receive 15 minutes of extra time during the re-exam. Students will be able to choose their preferred re-exam center.” Previously, on May 3, the exam was held in 551 cities across the country and 14 cities abroad. More than 5,400 exam centers were set up for the exam.
Pradhan said, I will talk to the states regarding the movement of students
NEET: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, “How did this violation occur despite following the Radhakrishna Committee’s recommendations? The government machinery will ensure that no irregularities occur this time. As a minister, as a guardian, as an official, we had to make the difficult decision to cancel the exams.”
He said, “We have received many suggestions for improvements. We are working on them. The NTA was formed as per the Supreme Court order. Furthermore, I will be talking to state governments to ensure transportation for candidates.”
7 people arrested till now
NEET: The CBI has so far arrested seven people in this case. Five of these individuals—Mangi Lal Binwal from Rajasthan, his brother Dinesh Binwal from Jamwaramgarh, his son Vikas Binwal, Yash Yadav from Gurugram, Haryana, and Shubham Khairnar from Nashik—were produced before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court.
The court remanded all five accused in custody for seven days. The CBI also arrested Manisha Waghmare, a beautician from Pune, and Dhananjay Lokhande from Nashik.
Yash delivered the paper to Sikar
The CBI has learned that the leaked paper allegedly reached Rajasthan through accused Yash Yadav. According to sources, students were charged between ₹200,000 and ₹500,000 for access to the paper.
According to sources, Yash Yadav was identified as another accused, Vikas Binwal. Investigations have revealed that Vikas’s father, Dinesh, allegedly scanned the hard copy of the NEET-UG question paper and converted it into a PDF file.
Sources said the accused allegedly first hand-wrote the question paper and then scanned it and circulated it among students studying in coaching centres in Rajasthan’s Sikar district.
The coaching center teacher and PG operator, who arrived at the police station in Sikar on the night of May 3rd, had the viral guess paper (question bank) in their possession. It contained 150 of the 180 questions from the original paper.
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Edited by: Bhoomi Goyal
