Top Officials to Brief Parliamentary Panel on NEET-UG Re-Examination

Top officials from India’s Health and Education ministries, the National Testing Agency (NTA), and the National Medical Commission (NMC) will brief a parliamentary panel on Wednesday, June 10, regarding the NEET-UG re-examination scheduled for June 21. This briefing is in response to the cancellation of the original NEET-UG exam held on May 3 due to a paper leak. The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has summoned the secretaries of Higher Education and Health, along with top NTA and NMC officials, to discuss the conduct of the upcoming re-exam.

The officials will face questions on the examination process and the regulatory oversight of these institutions. Notably, this is the third parliamentary committee these officials will appear before, following previous appearances before the Parliamentary Committees on Education and Government Assurances. In those sessions, officials emphasized their focus on ensuring a smooth re-examination process in a pen-paper format.

The CBI Director has also briefed a parliamentary panel on the progress of the investigation into the paper leak and the steps being taken to apprehend those responsible. The re-examination scheduling follows the May 3 exam cancellation and has led to heightened concerns among students, with some tragic incidents of suicide reported. The Parliamentary Committee on Health will scrutinize the officials’ preparedness and the regulatory framework under the NMC Act, 2019.

Separately, the Parliamentary Committee on Education, led by Congress member Digvijaya Singh, has queried the NTA to define ‘paper leak’ and disclose any incidents since 2018. The NTA maintained that the leak was not from their system but rather from circulating guess papers. The committee is also investigating the CBSE’s on-screen marking system (OSM) controversies.

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